A magnificent bond
by SlyPieXD
Summary: (Yes, it's annoying, I'm annoying, my stories now kind of on the front page are annoying, but this story is better...) In a mysterious accident, Ib's home is burned along with her parents, and Ib makes it out safely, and is placed in an orphanage. One day, a mysterious man comes to the orphanage, and takes a liking to Ib. (Rated T just to be on the safe side, Okay!)
1. Chapter 1

**Otay, so it may kind of seem like a certain story with the beginning of which you would think I stole their idea, but trust me, I didn't, so please don't nag me about it. I kind of had this idea a while back, so bleh!**

**Yes, It's getting annoying how three of my lame stories now take up the front page, but I can't help but write different fanfics of Ib! Although, I've seen much better stories than mind.**

**Just to be clear here, Ib is still 9 years old, Mkay? And this ****IS**** after the galley, so don't be mean. (Memories Crannies Ending more like? :3**

**Thanks.**

* * *

_Mommy? Daddy?_

Ib looked around the house, smelling smoke, and the smell kept getting more and more stronger.

Ib coughed, and held her breath.

"Mommy?! Daddy?!" Ib cried.

She looked around frantically, and was grabbed by a pair of arms.

"Don't worry, we got you!" The person said.

The pulled her outside through a ladder, and was placed gently on the ground, with Ib still coughing.

"Where's -cough- mommy and -cough- daddy?" Ib choked.

"They'll be out soon," the firefighter told her reassuringly. "Right now, we need to get you to the ambulance."

"But.. -cough- mommy… -cough- da…"

"We'll do our best!"

Ib was lifted onto the stretcher, and put into the ambulance.

She looked out the back window, and saw the entire apartment swallowed by flames, and it just kept getting more and more covered.

…

Ib sat up, and looked around.

She kept hearing beeping over and over again from the screen beside her, with a long green line moving up and down every second.

She felt sick, like she was going to throw up, but her throat burned.

"Anybody?" Cam Ib's hoarse whisper.

She saw a glass of water on the table next to her, and a nurse came in.

"Oh goody!" She exclaimed, holding a plate of food and a bottle of medicine. "I have your medicine, and all you need to do is drink a little bit of it, and you'll feel better!"

She slid a hospital table over Ib's lap, and set the plate on it.

Ib didn't particularly like people in the room while she ate, and the nurse could see it on her expression, but she kept smiling.

"Alright, I'll be outside, remember to take the medicine, and there's also another drink on there to rid of the taste!"

The nurse walked up and walked out of the room.

Ib ate, took the medicine, then chugged down the drink the nurse gave her, she was right, that medicine tasted HORRIBLE. The nurse peered through the glass, and Ib gestured her to come in now.

She sat down at the edge of the bed, after moving the table away from her, and sat down next to Ib.

"Sweety," the nurse started, her smile fading, "we won't charge you anything, because you have no money to pay with."

Ib understood, guessing that most of her's and family's stuff got burned in the fire.

"But, you will also be taken to an orphanage."

Ib's mouth gaped open, causing her throat to ache for a second.

"I know that it's very traumatic and sad at your age, but it will be okay there. They treat their children with great care, especially 9-year-olds like you…!"

Ib started to sob.

_Were her parents really gone?_

"No…" Ib replied, the medicine soothing her voice.

"It'll be alright, they will be here soon…"

Ib still cried, avoiding eye contact with the woman.

"I'm truly sorry…"

She got up, and walked out of the room.

Ib looked down, and her eyes kept on her fingers.

"I will never look at anyone again, and I won't speak a word as long as I live. I don't want anyone to bother me, I don't want anyone to touch me, and I don't want any friends!" She quietly shouted.

She was angry and sad, and just wished she could have died in the fire with her parents.

_Who started that fire anyway?_

…

She sat by the fencing of the orphanage, her expression sad, depressed, and lonely.

Everyday, a boy would come and sit in front of her, trying to talk to her, but Ib didn't even nod or shake her head. She just pulled her knees up to her chest, and avoided his eye contact. He would sigh, and leave.

Until today.

He came over there, and sat in front of her like he always did.

"I know that it's hard, Ib. And it's okay, I can't say I blame you for not talking to me. But I just wanted you to know that I'll be your friend, no matter what happens or what you do. I promise to stick by you."

Ib smiled, something she hadn't done since the weeks that the 'incident' happened.

_It had been a week or two, hasn't it..? It still feels like yesterday…_

Ib avoided his contact, but said only two words in a hushed whisper.

"Thank you…"

His eyes widened, and he smiled happily.

"You talked to me!" He exclaimed.

"I finally got you to say something after all this time!"

"Alright everyone, line up to go to your classes!"

Ib stayed sitting down by the gate.

"Bye, Ib!" Mark said, happily waving a hand at her.

They didn't make Ib go to the classes, because they knew she was having a really hard time, and on the first day, she was called on to stand up and say her name. All eyes were looking at her, but she still remained seated. She still hung her head low, and saw nothing. But the feeling of the snickers and people looking at her made her break out, and she ran out of the classroom, crying loudly.

Since then, they didn't make her go to the classes anymore.

…

After what felt like hours, she felt a light touch on her shoulder, but didn't look to see who it was.

"Ib, honey," the voice sweetly came. It was the headmaster of the school, Vanessa, who was sweet and caring especially towards Ib.

"There's a man here who says he wants to talk to the children and get to know them. Will you please come with me?"

Ib loved Vanessa. Very much, in fact. Vanessa was the only one who would nod and shake her head, and actually let Vanessa touch her.

Ib nodded, and stood up, her eyes still avoiding her.

Vanessa took Ib's hand, and walked happily to the building.


	2. Pain and Embarrassment

**Okay, yes, this one is VEEERY loooong, so sorry about that. I just wanted to keep writing! Hehe. I'll upload the new one soon, I guess.**

* * *

When they came inside, Vanessa let go of Ib's hand, and walked away.

With Ib's hair covering her eyes so that he couldn't see her staring, she gazed up at the man across the room.

He had a pretty lilac hair color with some dark streaks of it at the top, and his hair oddly covered his right eye. He wore a blue tattered coat, a green tank-top, brown pants, and brown shoes.

She plopped down on a wooden chair next to a window, avoiding getting close to him like the girls did.

The girls and boys varied in ages here. Like the oldest kid here was 15, and that was a boy. The girls were admiring him, while Ib glanced every few seconds.

She saw the little children hugging his legs desperately, and Ib sighed sadly.

_I hate when the children do that… So desperate for somebody to take them and love them… I mean, not being mean. It just makes me sad, because I can't like that. I don't want to go with anyone, because I want my father and mother to be the only ones I had._

When Ib shot another glance, he was looking right at her!

She quickly, ever so quickly, turned her head to the window, staring outside.

"Here you go kiddo! Let go of my legs please! Excuse me…"

She heard the young man's voice come over the swarm of children, and she could hear each child plopping down on the ground, and the moving of feet.

"Young lady," he said.

She gasped, as the voice was right there.

She didn't talk.

She didn't move.

Not even a hand gesture, when she heard Vanessa coming over, and patting Ib's head.

"Ib, please. I know that you have extraordinary manners, can you please show the man some kindness?" Her soft voice came.

Ib turned her head, but always kept her eyes at her hands or skirt.

"She's Ib," Vanessa said, patting Ib's head again, "she's awfully shy. I'm really sorry…"

He smiled in reply.

"No problem. I can understand. I used to shut the world out a little bit too. Not to be offensive to you, Ib, in any way!"

Ib kind of smiled under her bangs, which made him happy.

"I'm Garry." He replied.

Ib, for some reason, felt more comfortable around him.

"Here," Garry took Ib's hand, which made her stiffen.

But she let him hold her hand anyway.

It made lots of gasps come from around him, and jealous snickers.

"It'll be okay!" He exclaimed. "I hope to get to know you, Ib!"

He stood up, and let go of her hand.

He glanced at his watch.

"Oh, dear! My boss will be so very angry if I come in late again… It was nice meeting all of you…!"

And with that said, he fled the building quickly, and Ib went back outside.

"I dunno…" Ib whispered to herself. _Mommy, Daddy, what do you think of this 'Garry?'_

…

She looked at the open part in the fence in the corner, and stared intently at it, until a hand came pounding on her back, and she fell forward.

She didn't look up to see who it was.

She _knew_ who it was…

"Aww, the little brat still doesn't reply, does she?"

He grabbed the back of Ib's white shirt, while she was crawling away.

"Where do you think _you're_ going?!" His harsh voice came to her ears, as he pulled her up.

He landed a hard hit on the side of Ib's head, sending her blackness into her eyes.

"LEAVE HER ALONE!"

Mark shoved the first member of the 3 into the fence, injuring his whole right side.

Mark bent down and lifted Ib up.

"Just wait until Vanessa finds out, you'll-"

"You think you have the guts to snitch?" He interrupted, pissed off. "If you do, I swear that she'll," he pointed straight at Ib, "suffer the consequences."

He walked off, still glaring at the two.

"I..Ib?"

He looked at where she got hit, and he whimpered.

He had hit her.

_Hard._

It was red, black, and blue.

He saw her gentle tears flooding down her face, and he picked her up, bridal style.

**(A/N, please take it into account that when in the story, when I say 'carry,' I will ****always** **mean bridal style, unless I say 'over his shoulder,' or etc. Thanks!)**

He quickly ran into the school building calling for Vanessa.

He didn't know what to say, though.

He couldn't snitch, fearing it would only hurt Ib more.

_But she could still be hurt even if he didn't tell…_

He was deciding, when Vanessa ran up, shrieking when the saw the large mark on the side of Ib's head.

Beside her, was the man from yesterday.

_Garry, I think it was…_

His eyes widened at her mark, and his first question he blurted out was filled with anger. "What happened to her?!" He asked, taking Ib from Mark's arm.

_I...I…_

"I don't know…" Mark said, looking down. "She was passed out, and I didn't see what happened…"

Vanessa nodded quickly, and said thanks, running down the hallway with Ib.

…

_I don't wanna live anymore. Let me die in my sleep, please…_ Ib begged.

She didn't though.

She woke up with a seriously bad throbbing pain in the side of her head, making her wince.

"I-Ib!"

Vanessa hugged Ib tightly, and Ib felt something wet on her shoulders.

_Is she.. crying…?_ Ib wondered.

Vanessa let go, and Ib sat up.

Ib pointed over to the Ipad on Vanessa's desk, and Ib opened it up to a voice robot, using it to say the words for her.

"What's going on?" The robot's weird and creepy voice said.

She still avoided eye contact, but she looked to her left, hoping to see the wall, but she met a pair of eyes.

"Eyah!" Ib shrieked, and she dropped the Ipad on her lap, and rose her hand to her chest.

"I..I'm so sorry!" Garry replied.

Ib had never made eye contact before. That was what scared her, not seeing that somebody was there.

Her eyes had never met another's eyes, and after so much time, they did, and Ib didn't like it. It gave her a really awkward feeling.

"We don't know! Mark said he didn't know…"

Ib typed quickly on the electronic, and whatever words she spelt wrong, they would automatically be corrected for her.

"He must've been lying to protect me. The boys must've threatened him." The robot replied.

"What..?" Vanessa asked, blinking a few times to make sure she was hearing things right.

**(Totally Makes sense… ._.)**

"The boys, Drake, Shawn, and Davis. Those three, Drake threw the punch."

Vanessa gasped, and she had an angry expression.

"Those boys are in for it…" She mumbled.

Ib's eyes turned wide, and she quickly typed away.

"No, No no! Don't! He threatened that if one of us snitched, I would pay for it…!"

Vanessa looked down at Ib.

"Fine, but at least we know, and if we see them near you, then we'll come running." Garry replied.

Something popped inside Ib's head for a moment, hearing voices.

_You and Mary investigate that room right there, Ib, Mary, if you guys really need me, I'll do whatever I can, and I'll come running, okay?_

_(Yes, That happened in 'Forgotten Portrait' when he said something a little different, don't judge.)_

She shook it off, but something that Garry said… She couldn't help but asked.

"We..?" The robotic voice said.

Garry nodded. "Of course, I'll be spending a lot of time here to get to know the children here! I and Vanessa both will come to your aid, okay?" He said happily.

It made me smile.

"I'm going to go back outside and talk to Mark," the robotic voice finally said.

"What?" Vanessa asked, watching Ib stand up and hand Vanessa the Ipad.

"Are you sure?" Vanessa asked, worried.

Ib nodded and smiled, and ran outside, meeting Mark by the fence where Ib always sat. She again sat as she always did, bringing her legs to her chest.

"What happened? You didn't snitch on them, did you?" He asked.

Ib nodded.

"Ib, what have you done?!" He asked, now fear filling his eyes.

Ib shook her head.

"So you didn't tell…?"

Ib shook her head.

"So you did..? What are you talking about?!"

Ib used hand gestures, pointing to the trio in the corner, and moving her hands in a 'yes,' then showed them that she told them not to get on by using a 'stern' hand gesture, then shaking her finger, as in saying 'no.'

"So.. You told them, but told them not to get onto them, correct?" He finally said, conjuring up an answer.

She nodded happily, but his eyes widened, and he pulled her into his chest, and she whimpered, cause of her head, and she heard him say,

"What do you want?"

They looked down at them, especially Mark, because he slammed Drake into the fence. Did I say looked, well, I meant _glared,_ more-like…

"So," he crouched down, awfully close to Ib. "Did the little brat tell on us?" He asked, his words harsh and full of hatred.

"No, she didn't!" Mark yelled back. "Now go away! You did enough damage today."

Drake shot a cold glare at Mark, before looking back at Ib, who clutched onto Mark's shirt, her eyes looking off into the distance.

The school was actually surrounded by a city, and the city was large, no trees in sight, except for the one in the school's playground, but that was it. All day you would hear cars and everything like that, and lawn mowers, because they mowed lawns of the hotels there frequently.

"What's this…?"

Ib shrieked, as his hand reached into the pocket of Ib's skirt, seeing as some paper was jutting out from the pocket.

Ib grabbed for it, still avoiding eye contact, but Drake held her down with his foot, while he unfolded the paper.

He laughed and laughed.

"What's that guy's name… Oh yeah, Garry! Hey everybody, look at this picture Ib drew of Garry!"

As everybody crowded, Mark finally managed to pull Ib out from under Drake's foot, and she sobbed into his shirt.

Ib's drawing skills were extraordinary, for a 9 year old, because her drawings were even better than some artists that she had seen. She shaded perfectly, making her pictures seem real.

The hurtful words stang in Ib's ear, hearing everybody shouting that she loved Garry.

Mark covered her ears, and let her sob, and when he got up, he took Ib with him. They walked over to the tree, and Ib peered at them, all hushed into a whispered, they laughed evilly, and walked over to the building, calling for Garry.

Garry and Vanessa both showed up, and glanced at the crowd of children, Drake stood in front, clutching the paper, and handing it to Garry.

Ib heard the words, 'Ib drew it,' and she looked at Garry's face.

She couldn't…

She just couldn't anymore.

"Mark, can you go tell him it's a mistake please," Ib begged.

Mark nodded and walked over there, leaving Ib alone.

She glanced at the tiny gap in the fence over there.

It was small indeed as Ib neared it.

She looked behind her.

Nobody was watching.

Ib was the smallest child at the orphanage, and so this was an advantage.

_I won't stay here any longer…_

She gave one last glance at Garry, who seemed to be talking, still clutching the picture in his hand, and Vanessa talking with him.

_Goodbye…_

She crawled through, and ran off, but not really far. Just far enough so that she wouldn't be hurt by them any more.


	3. Chapter 3 Unexpected turn

**Otay, so... This chapter happens to be a little shorter, so I hope ya dun mind. Thanks, brosephs.**

* * *

…

After talking to the kids about how he 'really didn't give a damn and that they needed to not do crap like that,' they all walked away, looking as if they had just been spanked.

Garry looked at the drawing.

It was a breath-taking portrait of him, drawn really well.

"I can't believe Ib drew this. She has an incredible talent…" He mumbled.

"Yes, she loves to draw and got used to the shading part of it!" Vanessa said gleefully.

Mark walked up to the two, and pulled on Garry's coat to get his attention.

"Yes, Mark, what is it?" Garry asked, putting the drawing in his pocket.

"Ib… She's not on the playground… did she go inside..?" Mark asked quickly.

Vanessa and Garry shook their heads.

"No...What do you mean…?"

"I mean that Ib is not on the playground. At all. No where…"

Vanessa and Garry exchanged glances, and nodded a thanks to Mark, before going to Vanessa's office.

"What do we do, Garry?!"

"We gotta report a missing child to the police. They'll find her, won't they…?"

Vanessa was passing alongside Garry around the room.

"Ib's not the type to run off like that, it's those boys which made her sad like that, and she was already depressed from the beginning!" Vanessa said angrily.

"Vanessa, Garry, may I please come in?" Came Mark's voice.

"Yes, Yes you may, what is it?" Vanessa asked quickly.

"She's not in the school, at all… But she got out through that small gap in the fence, she's the only what tiny enough for that!"

Vanessa nodded, "thank you, Mark! You're a big help!"

"No problem, Miss Vanessa."

_Ib… That sweet little girl… _Garry turned his head away, swearing that he would do anything to get her back.

…

"Brr…" Ib shivered, and held herself.

She was never outside at night, but she knew that it got cold.

"I d-d-doubt anybody ha-aa… CHOO!"

She sneezed, before finishing her sentence.

_Of course it's cold, you idiot! It's November! _She thought, scolding herself.

Now, she couldn't really tell if it was worth it to run away from the orphanage. But… The coldness was better than the pain and embarrassment she was always put through.

"Goodnight," she mumbled to herself, and she fell asleep on the side of a building.

…

It felt like she only closed her eyes, and she woke up to full brightness.

"Better… Ke-ke-keep moving-g-g…"

Her body felt ice cold, and she had to struggle to get up.

Her whole body felt numb, but she shrugged it off.

"That's her!" Someone shouted.

Ib spun around, seeing a small group of guys, all covered in dark clothing.

"The brat posted in the paper!"

That comment stung her, really hard. And it hurt. She was always called a little 'brat' by Drake and his friends ALL THE TIME, and she wasn't getting sick and tired of it.

These guys, though, scared her to the core.

_Well, they said that if you move around, your body heats up… So I guess I'll…_

She ran down the road.

_What am I running from..?_ She wondered.

Suddenly, she ran into an alley.

In a trash, a crumpled ball of paper sat at the top.

Her curiosity got the best of her, and she picked it up, folding it out.

She gasped.

It said that there was a missing child from the orphanage, and that they would pay $100 for her return.

_That's a lot of money…_

She gasped, ready to scream, when an arm wrapped around her waist, and a hand clasped over her mouth.

"Shh…" The familiar voice told her.

_The voice… Oddly familiar…_

He pulled her farther into the alley, and into the darkness of the alley, and he still kept his grip on her.

She didn't wanna trust the voice.

She _shouldn't_ trust the voice.

Without question, she struggled, squirmed, and even tried to bite his hand, only earning her failure in attempt.

The guys who were chasing her looked down the alley for a few moments, then passed by.

The person finally released Ib, and she turned around, greeted by darkness… But she could hear the person breathing.

She walked backwards carefully, getting away from the person.

Then they stepped out of the light.

It was Mark.


	4. Run and an opened door

"M...Ma...M…" Ib couldn't avoid eye contact this time.

She also couldn't bring herself to say something, since she still shut herself out from people.

She had only barely whispered what she was trying to say.

"Ib, come on," he said grabbing her hand and pulling her, "we're going back now…"

Ib shook her hand from him, and remembered what she had said she would always do.

She let her bangs cover her eyes, and she looked down at the floor, but once, said something that wasn't in a whisper.

"No!"

Was all she said.

He looked at her, confused.

"Ib, I'm not kidding, let's go. Those people were trying to get you for the prize money, and me returning you is the safest way, now come on!"

He took another lunge for her hand, but she moved.

"I'm sorry…" She whispered.

"IB!" He yelled at her.

She let her tears fall, not trying to cover them up, and said more than a few words this time.

"I'm not going back…"

"What? WHY?"

"Nothing is worse than being bullied… I'm not going to look Garry in the face again… Goodbye, Mark, Now… GO HOME…."

Ib pushed him back, but light enough for him to only stumble.

She hushed herself, going back to not talking.

"Ib…" He protested. "What… Am I going to tell Vanessa, who's been worried sick about you…?"

Her eyes were still downcast.

She did not reply.

She ran to him fast, wrapping her arms around his waist, hugging him, in shorter words.

"Bye…" Came her soft, gentle whisper, as she ran off, leaving Mark there speechless.

…

Garry sat on his couch, his head in his hands.

"Ib… Why of all people, did she run away… It's been on the news, everywhere… Nobody has found her…"

He looked at the TV, which reported something about the missing girl.

"_This morning, a gang of Vipers were chasing the girl who went missing, Ib._

_Here's from the person who witnessed it;_

_Baker:In my shop window, I saw the brown-haired little girl run by, the nasty group following behind her. I-"_

Garry shut off the TV.

"Ib's gonna get kidnapped, running about as she is… I've gotta find her soon…"

…

She came across an apartment building, tall, in fact.

She went inside, making sure to stay hidden.

She was hungry.

She was tired.

She smelt terrible…

Ib peered around the corner, and…

BINGO!

A door was wide open, and she ran inside.

She saw nobody, so she shut the door behind her and locked it.

She checked all the rooms.

She heaved a sigh of relief when nobody was home.

Ib walked into a room, with somebody's belongings here.

A man, clearly.

She looked through his drawers, desperate to find something to wear because she needed to take a shower really badly.

The clothes were a _little_ big for her, and they sagged on her, but she was fine.

…

She stepped out of the shower in a long shirt, and she had shorts on under it, because for some reason, she always carried shorts in her pocket just in case her skirt ripped and she needed new clothing.

The shirt _did_ sag on her, and it went to her knees, covering the shorts as if she wasn't wearing them.

She hid the clothes, and went into his kitchen, desperate to find something to eat.

She made a sandwich, and put all the ingredients back correctly, so no suspicions were raised.

She had just finished her food, and stood up, looking around at what to do.

_Click_

Her blood ran cold, as the door opened.


	5. In trouble

**Yes, yes. It's way too short. Almost.. Suspiciously short. Cliffhanger! AHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHA... I PROMISE the next one will be longer! :D**

* * *

She quickly sat down, and scooched (yes, it sounds funny) quietly closer to the cabinet behind her. She covered her mouth with her own hand.

"I don't remember shutting and locking my door… I only went out for a little bit… Hope nobody stole anything…"

It was a guy. Clearly a guy.

_What's this…?_

Something warm fell on Ib's hand, making it damp.

_Ib, pull yourself together… There's a logical explanation if he finds you… He wouldn't hurt a child… Would he…?_

"Hmm…"

She heard him move about the house, but could hear what he was saying.

"Why is the floor in the bathroom wet…?"

Ib meant to keep her sobbing quiet, but then..

_Hick_

One sound, which kind of sounded like a wheeze, escaped her mouth.

_It's all over now…_ She said, putting both hands on her mouth. _Great job… It all ends here…_

"I know you're there, and you better come out!" The voice angrily came.

Ib didn't reply, she just became more scared when she heard the click of a knife.

"Come out, now! I don't really want to use this!"

Ib looked to her left, because that's where he was approaching.

"Alright then, it's not gonna end well…" The voice said, still angry, but a hint of terror in his voice.

"AH!"

He came forth, brandishing a knife.

Ib quickly looked up through her bangs, her eyes wide.

It was Garry.


	6. No need to apologize

"I...Ib…?"

She couldn't move her eyes from his, his mouth gaped open in shock.

She took her hands away from her mouth, and put her head in her hands, and cried.

"I'm sorry, so sorry…" She whispered.

Garry's arms wrapped tight around her.

"Ib! We were worried! We thought that somebody would end up taking you! Please, don't do that again… Please, Ib…"

She could feel that he was shaking, too, and he let her cry into his shoulder, still apologizing over and over again.

"Don't apologize, Ib! I just care that you're safe!"

He had dropped the knife before he hugged her, and Ib looked at it.

_A butterfly knife…?_

She pushed away her thoughts, seeing as they weren't important right now.

"C'mon," he said, breaking his embrace around her, "let's go and see Vanessa!"

She froze still, looking at her hands.

She still sniffled, but refused to move.

"Ib..? Don't you wanna see Vanessa again?"

She nodded.

"Good, then let's go!"

She shook her head.

"Ib? What's wrong?"

She didn't answer.

"Oh!"

He grabbed his Iphone, and opened the same app that Vanessa had.

"Here, I downloaded it just in case you may need it…"

She took it gladly, and typed away.

"I don't want to go back. I refuse to."

He looked at her blankly.

"Why, Ib?"

"I'd rather continue living on the streets then go back to that horrid nightmare." The robotic voice replied.

"Ib, Vanessa promised that you could have a room all to yourself, and stay there all day if you wanted to…"

She smiled, and handed him the phone back.

She wanted to be carried back instead of walking, because she was awfully tired.

When she was little, she'd see children hold up their hands towards the adult, and the adult practically read their mind and picked them up.

But Ib thought asking a stranger (somewhat of a stranger) to carry her was a lot to ask, so she didn't do anything.

Garry chuckled, and smiled at her.

"You want me to carry you, don't you?" He asked.

He read her mind.

She blushed very deeply, and mumbled in such a hushed whisper, that Garry hardly hear it.

"I can't ask that from you…"

He laughed.

"You are funny, Ib."

She looked confused, but avoided eye contact still.

"C'mon.."

His hands went under her arms, and he lifted her up, and put her hunched over his shoulder, with her head on his shoulder, and he had one arm holding her up.

"Now let's go!"

He shut the door to his apartment, and started walking.

Ib eventually grew tired.

And tired.

And tired…

Until finally, her eyes shut.

…

"Look who I found~" Garry said in a sing-song voice.

Vanessa's puffy and red eyes, from crying, looked up at him, and a smiled spread across her face.

"Why was your voice quiet?" She asked, walking up to him.

"Ib kind of fell asleep on the way here. I could hear her silently snore into my ear," he laughed.

Vanessa smiled.

"I moved all of her belongings to her _new_ room and set everything up for her. Just take her to her room!"

Garry silently walked to Ib's room, and set her on her bed, tucking her in.

_Night, Ib…_

He closed the door quietly behind him.

* * *

**Sorry to cut it short, it's just it's kind of 1 in the morning and I am super tired. I PROMISE that I shall make a longer chapter when I wake up in the morning.**

**Night!**


	7. What?

"_Ib, Ib you say!_

_I can't leave a little girl to wander into danger, no no, so I shall come with you, and accompany you in this dreadful place._

_Ib, smile! I like you best when you're happy and cheerful, so don't be so down!"_

Ib kept writing her dream down on her sheet of paper, using handwriting that she could at least read. She did not have the best handwriting, mainly because she focused on drawing and not the words.

A soft knock came at Ib's door, and Ib stood up and opened it, revealing a wide-smiling Vanessa.

"Ib! Today is so exciting!" Vanessa exclaimed, hugging Ib tightly.

Ib tilted her head to the side, asking "why."

"Just pack up your things!"

Ib did as told quickly, and stood by the door.

_I'm probably going to a different room…_

She walked, no, _skipped_, more like, with Ib being dragged along by Vanessa's grip.

They got to the reception desk, and Ib still wondered what was going on.

Garry turned around, and smiled happily at Ib.

"Ib, you're going to be so happy!" Vanessa exclaimed.

_Was Garry coming to permanently help at the orphanage…?_

The thought made her happy, that Garry might be taking the room Ib slept in and Ib wouldn't mind sharing another room as long as Garry stayed.

"Garry…" Vanessa looked like she was dying to let something out of her system.

_Does she need to go to the bathroom…?_

Ib giggled at the thought.

"Garry… mmm…." Garry laughed, and gestured his hand to say 'go on.'

"_Is going to adopt you!"_


	8. A date?

Ib blinked a few times.

_Okay, I'm clearly dreaming…_

She turned around, and marched straight back to her room, when Vanessa stopped her.

"Ib, what's wrong?" She asked.

Ib just shook her head in reply.

"You don't like Garry?" Vanessa asked, a little sad.

Ib's eyes widened, and she snatched the notepad and pen on her desk, and scribbled something down.

"Are you sure? Did Garry really say that…?"

Vanessa laughed, and nodded.

"Of course, that would be really hurtful if I made a joke like that, Ib!"

Ib's eyes kept on the floor, but her head turned in Garry's direction.

"She's not kidding Ib! I really want you to come and live with me!"

Ib smiled, and hugged Vanessa really tight.

"I'm going to miss you…" Ib's voice faintly whispered into her ear.

Vanessa smiled widely, and said "me too."

Garry picked up Ib's bag for her, and Ib waved at Vanessa, before hearing the trunk slam, and Garry opened to door for her.

…

In the time being of living with Garry, who seemed really happy to have Ib with him, every single day, she started to change.

She talked a little bit more.

She eventually was able to make eye contact with Garry.

And she felt happier than she ever had.

_After my parents died, at least…_

"Ib, stop that! I told you that you're not being greedy if you ask over a _trillion_ times!"

That was one thing Garry couldn't fix.

Ib never asked for anything, so Garry had to 'assume' what she wanted.

"I can't." She said softly. "That's a lot to ask of you."

He shook his head.

"Asking me if I can get a cup for you is not asking a lot! You can't even reach it…!"

Garry continued sweeping up the glass on the floor.

Ib couldn't tell if he was angry or not…

"I'm sorry…" She mumbled.

"It's fine…" He said through gritted teeth.

_He's mad at me… But I would've felt bad if I asked him, though…_

After he sweeped and through it away, he sat on the couch next to Ib, and he sat her on his lap.

"Ib, do you still want a drink?"

She shook her head.

"Ib, why don't you just ask? I've told you time and time again it's not 'asking too much' or 'being greedy!'"

Ib still shook her head.

"You were… busy…"

Garry face flushed red with embarrassment.

He was smoking a cigarette a little bit before the cup shattered.

"I'm sorry, Ib… I really shouldn't smoke while I have a child…"

She smiled.

"It's fine. It was my fault."

Garry face hit his head, and stayed there.

_She is never gonna get it, is she…?_

The second his hand rested back on his lap, a few knocks came to the door.

"Oh!"

Garry gently set Ib off of his lap, and opened the door.

A pretty lady stepped inside.

She had beautiful long and black hair, and she wore a lovely red dress.

"Garry!"

The lady wrapped her arms around Garry, and he kissed her forehead.

Ib didn't know why, but a hint of jealousy struck her.

_No, no! Ib, he's your dad! Don't think differently of him…!_

"And I brought my brother, to watch over your girl!"

The lady said happily.

I walked over to Garry, tugging on his coat.

"Hmm?"

He turned around, and knelt down to me.

_I am so dumb… He was wearing a tuxedo the whole day, and I didn't even acknowledge this!_

"You're not leaving me, are you?" I asked him, my voice showing sadness.

"Ib, I promise that I'll be back soon, okay! I swear! Just 2 or 3 hours!"

I glanced at the lady's 'brother' that she mentioned.

He looked similar to Garry, but with black hair… And it was awfully strange how his hair covered his _left_ eye, and Garry's covered his right.

He wore a white t-shirt, and the casual blue denim jeans. He wore _cleats_ just to top everything off.

I shivered at his appearance, but couldn't help but burst out,

"You're leaving me with a complete stranger?!

Do you know what he can do to me?!

You have a sharpened collection of knives in the kitchen,

how do you think that will come out?!"

ALL of their expressions were shocked.

It wasn't really typical for a child of 9 to say things like that.

It wasn't really typical for _Ib_ to say things like that.

She rubbed her right arm in embarrassment.

"I'm.. sorry… I really didn't… It's just because…"

She said nothing more, and left to her room without saying bye.

…

She stared at her clock, and growled every time 30 minutes flew by.

So she only growled once before unlocking her door and coming out.

She heard the TV, and saw the guy the lady mentioned on the couch.

She slipped past him, and into the kitchen.

_Okay, Ib. You got this… You can grab that cup… it'll be fine… I won't break it this time…_

…

_SHATTER!_

"Owie!"

The glass cup broke, and Ib was trying to pick it up quickly, but some glass stuck to her hand and cut it.

The guy ran in the kitchen very quickly.

"What happened?!"

He glanced down at Ib.

"What did you do?" He asked in an annoyed expression.

"I...I tried to get a cup…" Ib said, her voice shaky.

"You cut yourself cleaning it up…"

He glanced at her hand.

"C'mon…"

He lifted Ib up on the counter.

"Where's the broom and dust pan?" He asked.

"Nevermind…"

It was in plain sight, because Ib tended to actually break things often.

After he cleaned up her mess, he looked at her hands.

"That is why you don't pick up glass with your hands…" he muttered.

He picked the glass of of Ib's hand, and she whimpered and moved uncomfortably every now and again, but then it was all out.

He wet a rag, and dabbed Ib's hand with it, wrapping them with a bandage after.

"There…"

"Tha...Thank you…" Ib's shaky voice replied.

"It's fine. Why didn't you ask…?"

That question again.

Ib had to answer it 'a trillion times,' as Garry said.

"I… I don't want to ask and be greedy, so I do it on my own, so I don't bug people by asking…"

He shook his head.

"You would've caused less trouble if you just came and asked me."

Ib looked down.

"I'm Derek."

She looked up at him.

"You're Ib, correct?"

She nodded.

"I..I'm so-"

Ib was interrupted by the door opening.

"I'm hooome~!" Garry said in a sing-song voice.

"Garry!"

Ib lept off the counter and hugged him.

"Ib," he said, pulling out of her embrace and staring worriedly at her hands, "what happened?"

"Cup…" Was all Ib said.

Garry had the 'oh my gosh, what did I tell you before' face.

"She didn't wanna ask. Mentioned something about being greedy." Derek said, patting her on the head.

"Ib…" Garry started.

"It's fine… My hands just got a little cut from the glass, it's fine."

He smiled, and said 'good-bye' to the lady, kissing her on the cheek.

She blushed, and left with Derek, who waved good-bye to Ib.

Ib had butterflies in her stomach, and blushed.

…

"Alright, Ib…"

Garry stepped out into the living room.

He was in his Pjs, as Ib was. His hair was damp, probably cause he got out of the shower a few minutes ago.

Ib's hair was damp, too. She took a shower right before him, and was wearing one of his shirts, which was kind of ling a nightgown to Ib.

"Sometime later we've gotta buy you more clothes, Ib," Garry said, lifting her onto his lap.

"But that's wasting _your_ money, Garry! I can't do that to you…"

"Mkay…" Garry didn't really wanna talk about the whole 'greedy' issue right now.

"Garry…" Ib suddenly said.

"Yes?"

"Uhm…"

She started playing with her hair.

"Ib, what is it? You can tell me!"

She smiled.

"Well, I… like this guy… But I can't tell him, and I don't know if he likes me… What should I do…?"

Garry blinked a few times.

"Ib, if I may asked, who is this 'guy?"

Garry was awfully protective of Ib, and he shouldn't really be thinking stuff like that since she was only 9…

"Well… I'll give you a small description, but not a lot of details!"

He nodded.

"Okay… Well…

He has really soft a pretty hair, which covers one of his eyes…

He's really kind, but can be scary.

He's really caring…

And to me, he's cuuute! "

Garry blinked a few times.

"Aha… I see…"

… _What should I say to her… I know who it is… But, I don't know what I can say…_

"Garry?"

Ib was waving her hand in front of his face, snapping him out of his thoughts.

"Yes, Ib?"

"So… What should I do…?"

"Hmm… Get to know him very well, for starters…"

She leapt off of the couch.

"Thanks Garry!"

He watched as she skipped to her room, happily.

_I hope I didn't say something wrong…_

He sighed, a flipped through the channels on the TV.


	9. Neglected

"Bye Garry!" Ib waved, and she watched her dad get into the car with his girlfriend and leave.

She turned to Derrick.

He raised an eyebrow, and shut the door.

He crouched to Ib's level, and she stared at him like an insane person.

"Ib… What are you thinking?"

…

"Ib, WHY WOULD YOU DO THIS TO ME?!"

Ib fell to the floor, laughing.

She had tied Derrick to a chair after he fell asleep, and put makeup on him… And he woke up a few minutes ago, and came storming out of the bathroom, his makeup all washed off.

He hoisted her onto his lap.

"What did I do?" He asked.

"You looked funny…" She said to him.

Since her dad went on more dates with his girlfriend, she started hanging out with Derrick more often.

"That is still mean.. Taking advantage of my nap like that…"

"How old are you?" Ib asked.

He raised his eyebrow in suspicion, but answered anyway.

"I am 17. How about you?"

"I'm 10!"

He smiled. "Why do you ask?"

"No reason…"

She remembered something her dad told her…

"_Get to know the person better, first."_

"What's your favorite color?"

"Orange."

"What's your favorite animal?"

"A Polar bear.."

"What's your favorite type of food?"

"Tacos…."

"What's your favorite-"

He clamped a hand over her mouth.

"Why are you asking all of these questions?!" He asked.

He moved his hand away.

"Because… I'm getting to know you better!"

"Ah… I see…"

Without question, Ib hugged him really tight, and the door opened.

"Ib? Uhum.. Your dad is home…"

She let go, blushing a deep red.

"Hi daddy!"

She leapt off of his lap, and hugged her dad.

"Hello, Ib." He said, returning her hug.

"C'mon, Leah," Derrick said, grabbing his sister's hand, "let's go."

Ib waved, and Garry kissed Leah Goodbye.

I shut the door and locked it, then looked at my dad… He had a questioning look on his face.

"What is it?" Ib asked, returning the look.

"Nothing…"

She rose her arms for him to pick her up, but he didn't.

"I can't right now, Ib. I've gotta work…"

She put her arms down, disappointed.

"Sorry, Ib. Why don't you go to your room and do something?"

…

A week or two had passed, and Ib was growing tired of it.

Everyday when she wanted to talk to him, he pushed her aside, with different excuses.

_He's been ignoring me so much lately… He doesn't like me anymore…_

She crept into the living room.

From behind, she could tell he had his glasses on.

She stood in front of him.

"Daddy?"

He looked up with a stern look.

He wondered what she wanted, because he waved her off a few minutes ago.

"What is it, Ib? I'm a little busy…"

She looked down, wanting to not see his eyes. She whispered, hardly audible but Garry could hear it.

"I.. I'm sorry for whatever it was to make you hate me… I'll… Stay out of your way now, okay? I promise to not bother you any more, Garry…"

Tears fell, but she ignored them, as she spun around, and walked back to her room.

_I guess it's normal… I'm just a stubborn child…_

…

She crept into the living room, and saw Garry sleeping, his papers still on his lap.

She tip-toed to him.

_Please don't let him wake up…_

She kissed his forehead, and walked to the door.

_I can't reach the chain lock!_

She spun around to go get a stool, when she saw Garry stirring.

_Err.. What do I do?!_

She hopped over and over again, attempting to reach the lock.

"Ib?" A soft voice behind her came.

She stopped, but didn't turn around, and didn't let herself cry, either.

"What are you doing?"

She heard the papers shuffle, and two feet plant on the floor.

She ran straight to her room, not giving him a single glance.

She shut her door, and locked it.

She climbed under her covers, and heard knocking at the door.

"Ib? Ib, please open the door…"

She didn't answer.

"Uhm.. You know I can unlock it with the spare key in my room, right?"

She popped her head out of the covers.

"Ib…"

She just stared intently at the door, not moving.

"Okay, Ib… I'm coming in…"

She saw the lock on her door turn, and Garry stepped in, his eyes full of concern.

Ib immediately shot her head under the covers, and curled into a ball.

"Ib…" He said again, pulling to covers down under her head.

"What's wrong? I didn't understand what you told me this morning about how I 'hate you' and whatever else you said. That wasn't true."

"Yes it is…" Her muffled voice came.

"No! I love you, I would never say such things!"

"You've been neglecting me lately… I haven't been able to talk to you in a week and a half.."

He pulled her onto his lap, her eyes squeezed shut.

"I'm sorry Ib. I was actually working to get more money for us to go do something really special. I didn't realize you'd feel that way.. I should've noticed.

She shook her head, and still remained to lay down.

"_No_!" She yelled. "You don't want me any more, because I was so greedy! Just tell me the truth.. No more lies.."

He could feel his knee become damp with her tears.

"I did tell you the truth, Ib. I don't understand why you think that…"

She sat up, and avoided his eyes.

She got up off the bed, and walked away, but Garry grabbed her arm.

"No. Let go of me."

Ib was even surprised by her anger. She's never been angry towards Garry. _Ever._

"Ib, why don't you hear me out?"

"I've been adopted _1_ time before. She did the same thing as you.

Told me it was so that we could go do something.

I found out that she was lying. She was neglecting me.

She hated me. So I ran away, and she never came back to get me. She wanted me to leave.

I shut everybody out. Never spoke. And now..

_You…_ Out of everybody.."

Garry's mouth gaped open, completely shocked.

"Ib, I promise you, I'd never feel that way!"

He pulled her into a tight embrace, and refused to let go.

"I adopted you because you stuck out, you were lonely. I wanted you to be my daughter, so don't think that I don't."

She didn't reply.

She didn't move.

She only cried.

"Ib? Ib, it's alright!"

"I.. I'm so sorry, Garry! I didn't mean to get mad at you!"

He smiled, and kissed her forehead.

"Don't trouble yourself with it, Ib. I can understand being worried about losing someone again or being rejected."

"Thanks, Garry."


	10. Nightmares in remembrance

"_Come with me~_

"_Grab my hand~"_

_IB!_

Ib sat up in her bed, startled.

_What was that dream about..? _

Ib tip-toed to Garry's room, and peered inside.

He was asleep, himself tucked under the covers.

She crawled next to him, hoping he wouldn't notice.

And dozed back off.

…

"Ib~! Wake up…"

A sing-song voice came.

She sat up, and heard in instant bump.

"Ow!" They both exclaimed.

Ib rubbed her forehead.

"Do you always sit up like that?" Garry exclaimed, smiling at Ib.

"Why are you in here?" He asked.

Instead of answering, Ib's eyes darted around him and onto the clock.

It read 7:48 A.M.

"Ib? I'm talking to you…"

She looked back at him.

"No reason…"

She smiled, and got up, skipping happily to her room.

Garry stood up and stretched, watching her leave.

_She's been doing it a lot lately, and she answers with the same excuse…_

Ib made her bed, and threw on her simple outfit; skirt, shirt, scarf.

She heard a knock on her door while she was digging through her closet for something.

"Uhm.. The door's open…" She said, not looking behind her.

"Ib~" He said, extending the 'b.'

"Yes?" She answered.

"Kiddo, you've been doing to same thing for the past few weeks~"

Garry kept saying his words in a sort of sing-song voice.

"No reason~" She said again, mimicking his tone.

He sighed, seeing that he wasn't going to get an answer out of her.

"Fine."

He turned around, and left.

"Why can't I find it?" Ib grumbled.

"Oh! I think this is it!"

…

Garry sat on the couch, browsing through the channels, when a scream came to his ears.

He sprang up, and ran to Ib's room.

He quickly lifted her onto his shoulder, and looked around.

He sighed, and saw nothing.

"Ib?! Why would you do that?"

Garry asked, putting her down.

"Mr.. Mr.. Fluffy…"

She put 'Mr Fluffy' (which is a green stuffed bunny) in Garry's hands.

He gazed at it.

It was torn to shreds.

"What did you do to it Ib?"

She stomped her foot.

"Nothing! He was all torn up, with some kind of purple paper in him!"

She pulled out a weird purple piece of paper that was shaped like a key.

"Uhm… It's okay, Ib…"

He stared down at the key, seeing as if he remembered something.

He shook it off, and patted Ib's head, taking the paper.

"I'll see what I can do, Ib.."

He walked away, carrying Mr. Fluffy.

…

"_A nightmare?_

_Can't say I'm surprised…_

_Being exposed to such frightful sights… I should've noticed earlier…"_

"_Why are you running, Ib?_

_You promised we'd be together._

_We're friends, right?"_

"_RIGHT?"_

Ib played around with her food, lazily flipping her lettuce over and over.

Garry had already finished, and had put his dishes away.

"Ib?" He said, catching her attention.

"She looked up at him, her eyes filled with tiredness.

"Gah! Ib, did you not sleep?!"

"I did… I don't think I want to ever again, though…"

He watched her, as she continued to flip her lettuce around.

"Okay, Ib!"

He snatched the plate from her, and she looked up at him.

"Why'd you do that?" She asked.

"Well, you're not eating, so I guess you're done!"

(A few moments later)

"Ib-"

He looked down at the floor.

Ib was laying on the carpet, and was sleeping.

He sighed, and when he reached for her, she snapped up.

"I'm not tired!" She randomly yelled.

Garry eyed her suspiciously.

He could see every few seconds, her eyes would close for a while, then quickly open.

"Ib, you are tired. Why don't you go to bed? It's past 1."

"The why aren't you asleep?" She mumbled.

"Because… Well… I'm not tired!"

"Neither am… I.."

He lifted her up onto his shoulder, ignoring her protests.

"Garry, I can't sleep! Don't you know how dangerous sleep is?!"

He set her down, and she glared up at him.

"You don't glare at your dad, Ib. It's disrespectful…"

She sighed, and lost the glare.

"What do you mean 'sleep is dangerous?' Sleep is important!"

"I can't…."

He crouched down to her level.

"Ib, a nightmare is not real, okay? It'll be fine…"

…

She sat up, scared out of her mind.

Her eyes darted around the dark room.

"Who's there?" She whispered.

_I am paranoid… _

She sat up.

"I won't sleep, so I need to do something to keep me awake…

She turned on the light to her room, and flipped on her radio.

She turned the volume all the way up, so the floor actually vibrated under her feet.

/

"Grrr.." Garry mumbled. "What does Ib think she's doing?!"

He squashed a pillow up to his other ear, hoping it would block out the noise.

It didn't.

He threw the pillow across the room, and glared at the wall.

He sat up, and marched angrily to Ib's room.

He un-plugged her radio, and Ib turned around.

"Hi, Dad…"

It was 5 in the morning, and Ib hadn't slept for a little bit over 24 hours.

"Ib, it's 5 in the morning!"

She nodded. "I'm trying to stay awake.."

"You haven't slept in 29 hours!" He yelled at her.

"You don't understand!"

He grabbed her hand, and dragged her into his room.

"Would it make you feel better if you slept in here tonight, Ib?"

"I'm not sleeping…" She mumbled.

"Yes you are…"

She shook her head. "No, I'm not…"

"Yes…"

"No."

"Yes!"

"No.. I refuse to!" She said, crossing her arms.

He sighed.

"Fine, but don't wake me up like that again…"

She nodded, and walked back to her room, and sat there.

…

Garry yawned, and sat up.

_It is 8 o'clock. She is bound to be asleep…_

He walked to her room in peered in.

She wasn't even there.

"Ib?" He yelled.

"Hmm?"

He turned around, and shrieked at the little girl behind him.

"You look terrible, Ib!"

Her eyes were blood-shot, and she couldn't even keep her back straight.

Why, she couldn't even manage to talk.

"Alright, c'mere, Kiddo…"

He picked her up, and her head rested on his shoulder.

He sat down on his couch, and let her lay in his lap.

She eventually did fall asleep.

(Ib's dream)

_Staying awake isn't going to save you from me…_

Ib looked around in the dark abyss she was floating in.

"Who.. Who are you?"

There was maniacal laughter echoing the in the abyss.

_You'll find out soon enough…_

Ib's eyes opened, but she didn't move.

She could hear silent snoring in her ear.

She looked at Garry, who was fast asleep.

She giggled at how he was sleeping.

When she sat up, Garry's eyes shot wide-open.

"Morning, Kiddo. You look better, because you slept for 10 or more hours…"

He smiled at her, but she couldn't even manage a smile.

"Garry… How come you never get nightmares?"

"I do get nightmares, but I just say to myself that they can never be true!" He said cheerfully.

"But.. What if the worst thing in the nightmare _knows_ that you're dreaming and threatens you?"

He looked at her, his cheerful smile gone.

"Oh… Just know that it can't hurt you, because it's a dream!"

"Right." Ib said, finally smiling.

"_What… What is it NOW? There's nothing left for you to take, I tell you!"_

_It sounds like Garry's voice… _Ib thought.

Her eyes fixed on Garry, who looked back at Ib.

His eyes changed from normal, to concern.

"Uhm.. Ib? You're kinda freaking me out…"

Ib's eyes widened.

…_._

…_._

…_._

…_."Uhm… Ib? Did I do something? You're kinda freaking me out…"_

_Deja-vu much?_

"Ib, are you okay?"

She shook her head.

_Did I meet Garry somewhere else?_

"_Oh, wait… Dear me, could you be someone from the gallery?"_

_It definitely sounds like his voice.._

"_So you are! Oh, thank goodness!"_

_It is Garry's voice…_

Ib could hardly hear Garry trying to ask her what's wrong…

"_I can't leave a little girl to wander into danger, no no, so I shall accompany you!"_

_...Maybe I did meet him somewhere…_

_Before my parents died…_

"_Ib! Garry! Get away from there!"_

_Who's the other voice…?_

"_Wait.. What are you doing?!"_

_A girl's voice.. A little girl like me…_

"_No, stop!"_

_Wasn't her name…_

"_AAAAAHHH!"_

_Mary…?_


	11. Garden and Explanation

"Ib? Ib, please answer!"

Ib finally started looking around the room, but the first thing she met were Garry's eyes.

"Yes? What is it?"

Garry blinked a few times.

"How can you say that? You were staring into nothing for quite a while, and you fell straight out of your chair and didn't move! I thought you went into some kind of coma..!"

_Mary… The gallery… Guertena… The ladies… Mannequins… Statues.. Everything… That's how Garry seemed somewhat familiar…_

"Garry… When you first saw me, was I somewhat familiar to you?"

He looked confused for a second, processing his words, before he nodded.

"Do you remember Guertena…?"

He looked up at the ceiling for a few moments.

"Aha! I remember… You were the little girl who came up to me and asked me what a certain sculpture meant!"

Ib hid her face in his shirt.

"I'm not talking about that, Garry…"

"Hmm? Then what?"

She looked back up.

"Does the name 'Mary' ring a bell in your head to you?"

He nodded again.

"How about… Living statues chasing you? I think it was 'Death of the Individual…"

He laughed.

"You have an active imagination, Ib!"

She looked sad, and hopped off his lap.

"Nevermind, Garry…"

She sadly walked back to her room.

…

"Get up and get dressed, Kiddo, we're going out for a picnic!"

Ib slowly opened her eyes. In the doorway, Garry was happily holding a basket.

"I'll be waiting by the front door~ !"

Ib sighed, and threw some clothes on.

"Ready, Garry!" She said happily.

…

Garry was setting everything up, and Ib walked out of his sight for a moment.

She gasped, and looked at what she walked into.

It was a blooming garden, and the sign read,

**Take only two flowers, no more than that, or you'll make the Garden patrol very unhappy.**

She looked around.

There were blue and red blooming roses everywhere.

She saw something below a certain red flower…

A burnt yellow flower.

"Gah!" Ib screamed.

"Ib!"

She heard someone say off in the distance.

She spun around, but it wasn't Garry…

It was Mark!

"Mark!"

She hugged him really tightly.

He returned her embrace.

"Are you okay, Ib?"

She looked up at him.

"I'm.. fine…" For the moment, she completely forgot about the burned rose.

Garry ran into the garden, and saw the two in a tight embrace.

"Mark? What are you doing here?" Garry asked.

Mark let go of Ib, and turned around.

"I was adopted, too. She just wanted to stroll through the park, today…"

Garry smiled, then crouched down to Ib.

"Ib, did you yell?"

She nodded, then turned around.

The pulled out the burned yellow flower.

The only yellow (ish) flower in the garden.

"Oh.."

Garry looked down it.

"Well, maybe it was just an accident…"

Ib dropped the flower, and never felt so angry at Garry.

"How could you _not_ remember! Mary! We burned her, remember?! She doesn't even ring a single bell in your head! Remember?! She chased us, she almost hurt me, and you came to rescue me! You don't even try to remember!"

Ib broke down into a sob, and Mark gave her a comforting hug, but he was also suspicious, and let his curiosity get the best of him.

"You.. Burned someone?"

Ib nodded.

"She was going to kill us… It was the only option…"

Mark was confused.

"How do you burn someone? They could've killed you in that time…"

Ib looked up at both of their curious faces.

"Believe it or not, we got stuck in some… _Bizarre_ dimension of Guertena's gallery… The paintings and sculptures came alive, and tried to kill us. There was this girl… Mary… Who said she was human… But she was like the other paintings… She had a palette knife… And tried to kill me with it, but Garry saved me. In the end…

We found her room…

And she blocked our way out, and had the palette knife in her hand, ready to kill the both of us.

So we ran to the end of the room, and saw a painting.

A painting… The frame was shattered, and the main object of the piece was missing..

The title read 'Mary,' and so we did the only thing to save ourselves.

We burned the painting, which made Mary crumble to ashes with it…"

It was like time stopped.

Nobody moved.

It was like nobody blinked.

They were processing everywhere that _Ib_ said.

"Ah...Yes!" Garry finally remarked.

"I'm so glad you noticed!" Ib cried happily.

"So.. Then you're not lying… If Garry says that's true.. Then it must be true!"


	12. Bullies and a change

"But Garry…" Ib said, looking straight at him. "Isn't it strange? We went through all of that, and didn't remember… And it's a coincidence how I ended up seeing you again, and BAM! I am your daughter!"

Ib nervously laughed, and wiped the last of her tears away.

Her gaze came back to the burnt rose.

"Was it… It was…" Ib stopped. She didn't want to continue what she was going to say.

"But now…"

She held the rose in front of Garry's face, who took it from her tiny hands.

"Do you think… Mary's alive?" Ib's crazy question came.

She remembered her dreams…

_Could she be the voice…?_

"I have to go…" Mark said, breaking the silence.

"It was nice to see you again, Garry, Ib… Bye!"

He waved, and Ib and Garry said bye.

Garry turned back to Ib, staring at her expression.

She was brave and confident, but in her eyes… She was full of fear.

"No, Ib. She couldn't be alive. It's just some sick joke…"

She nodded, but she still wasn't completely sure.

…

"Go away…" Ib said, her voice shaky and full of fear.

The bullies smirked, and towered over the little girl, making her shake more violently.

"We're stupid', huh? Quietly whisper that to yourself, won't you? Let us teach you a lesson." The bully hissed back at her.

…

"Hey kiddo!"

Garry smiled happily as Ib, as he shut the door behind her.

"You seem to be wearing your hat over your eyes, Ib!"

He crouched down to her.

"Hey, did something happen?" His voice said, full of concern.

"No…" She replied, her voice sounding sad and hurt.

"Ib…?"

"I said I'm fine!" She cried, and slammed the door to her room.

_I'm a 12 year old… Stuck in a school with ages from 13-15… I __hate_ _school…_

Hands quickly snatched the hat off of her head.

She rose her hands up to her eyes quickly.

"Ib, stop it!"

He grabbed her hands, and pulled them away.

She shook her bangs over her eyes.

"Ib! Did something happen?!"

He asked, his hands still wrapped around her wrists.

She shook her head.

He inhaled a large breath, then blew at her bangs, pushing them away.

There was the reason.

A black eye.

"Ib?! Who did this to you?!"

She cried.

"B..Bullies..!"

He hugged her tightly.

"Do you have names?" He asked.

She shook her head. _Lie…_ She knew exactly who it was.

He sighed.

"Alright, Ib. At least let me treat it…"

…

"Another day… Luckily it's Friday… Please don't let anything go wrong today…" Ib mumbled to herself.

School was over, and she was sitting politely on the bench outside.

"C'mon." A harsh voice said loudly from a distance.

The teachers had already left, and some kids still stayed on the school grounds, hanging out with friends.

Ib always sat alone. She had no friends besides Mark, and he was home-schooled…

_I'm not staying around for this…_

She stood up, and turned the other way, and started to walk away.

Of course, her day got worse.

A hand grasped her hair.

"Ah!" Ib whimpered, and she reeled herself back.

"Leaving so soon, Ib?"

_Why today? Friday's are supposed to be great!_

He released her hair.

"Yes, I am. Good day to you."

She practically hissed the last part at him.

Her back was turned to them, not bothering to turn around.

He grasped her arm.

"Don't talk to me like that." He hissed back.

He forced her to turn around, and she glared at him.

A growl erupted from deep within him, and the SLAP rang clearly in Ib's ear.

She shrieked, and rose her hand to her cheek.

"Ow…" She said softly, rubbing her cheek.

She could hear the laughs from the guys.

"Screw you…" Ib muttered.

The laughing stopped.

"What was that?" He said angrily.

**(His name is Jack, jus' sayin…)**

"I think what I said was pretty clear, idiot…"

Ib stood up, facing him.

"I'm not afraid of you anymore…" She said, her own voice becoming loud.

"Really?!" He snapped, his hands balling into fists. "Let me give you a reason to."

She kicked him… And in the spot where guys shouldn't be kicked.

He groaned, and fell to his knees.

He was angry.

It was obvious.

A knife clicked from his pocket.

_All of their pockets…_

Ib started to back-up, slowly.

She was terrified again.

_What did I get myself into?_

She gulped, their expressions showed anger and evil.

The two worst combinations.

She whimpered. She was afraid if she turned her back, she would be stabbed the second she did.

"See? You're terrified now, aren't you?"

Ib realised something.

_They won't kill me… They'll threaten me, but if they kill me… The answers will be obvious…_

She stopped, giving them confused faces.

"No. I'm not."

She stood her ground.

"I've been through worse. I've been through horrors you wouldn't imagine, at just 9 years old! This… Heh… This is nothing!" She yelled.

A smile coming over Ib, she closed her eyes.

When she opened them, there should've been her beautiful ruby eyes.

But instead…

They weren't even visible.


	13. The truth

"Oogh…"

Ib woke up to herself running, and she leaned against the bakery walls.

"I don't… understand… What happened…" She breathed.

She stood up straight, and looked around.

She walked forward, heading home.

She stopped when she heard her name, and shoes clack along the pavement.

She spun around.

"Hi, Mark!" She exclaimed, smiling.

"Hey… Ib…" He said, catching a breath.

"What's up?" She asked.

"Mind if I come over to your house, Ib?" He asked.

She nodded. "Why not?"

He smiled, and walked next to her.

"Hey, Mark…" She started.

"Hmm?"

"Why do you come over to my house a lot, but I never get to see yours?"

A reflection of small anger shot through his body, but it disappeared.

"My house is just never clean."

She gasped, and took his hand.

"Why don't I help you clean?" She exclaimed happily.

He shook his head.

"No… I'd rather you not…"

"So, tomorrow, then?!"

He looked straight into his eyes, anger obviously showing.

"No, Ib! You… You can't!"

She stuck out her bottom lip in a pout.

"Fine, Mark."

…

"Yo Garry!" She exclaimed, walking up behind him.

"Ibby? What did I tell you about improper language?"

He turned around, and looked down at Ib.

"You told me not to say it…" She mumbled.

"Yup!" He said pinching her cheek.

"Ow!"

He laughed.

"I wanted to tell you I might be a little late tonight."

He blinked a few times.

"Why?" He asked.

"I'm helping Mark clean his house!" She exclaimed.

He chuckled.

"Alright… Have fun Ib!"

He kissed her on the cheek, and she left.

…

Ib went to her locker, and took her books and papers for 1st period.

When… She noticed something.

The halls were awfully silent, and it seemed everybody was looking at something.

Everybody was looking at _Ib._

When she went to her locker, the people who were standing next to it quickly moved.

Her eyes glanced to the bullies in the corner, and glared at her angrily.

_Wow… It looks like they got beat-up…_

She noticed everybody moved to the side.

_Why are people acting that way?_

She looked nervously at the ground, and walked on through.

_So much for a good friday…_

**(A/N Yes, I said that 'yesterday' was Friday, I meant 'Thursday,' sorry. So yes, it's Friday right now in the story.)**

_The friday right before summer break, and it just starts out terrible._

…

Finally school was over, and Ib tossed all of her school stuff into her red backpack. It was designed with roses.

She pulled out the card that she got from another close friend of Mark's. It had his address on it.

_Hopefully this will brighten my day…_

…

"Wow. What a big house!" Ib exclaimed.

She opened the door slowly and quietly.

_The door wasn't locked…_

She shut it, still silent.

_Are those voices?_

She crept to the room where voices could be heard.

She didn't make herself visible, and stood by the wall.

"Mark, you can't let Ib come here!"

_A woman's voice… Mark? What's going on?_

"I told her not to, so it's fine. Nobody saw you yet. They talked about you whilst I found her at the garden near the pond."

Ib leaned her head in.

There was a woman, who had long blonde hair, and a green flowing dress, with lace at the bottom.

Ib could only see her from behind, since her back was turned.

She also saw Mark, who was talking to her.

"Nobody can ever know our secret, especially not Ib nor Garry! I'm not failing now, after everything I did! Burning Ib's house… Hehe… I'm surprised she didn't remember me then and there. They wanted to burn me… So I burned something of theirs in return!"

Ib ran, and slammed the door shut behind her, sprinting home.

"_What was that?!" _The woman hissed.

They looked out of the room, and saw nothing.

"Mark," She said, her attention turning to him, "go find Ib, and just tell her she can't come over because I'm very sick, okay?"

He nodded, and ran outside.

…

Ib stopped when she thought she got far enough.

"Mary… She… Killed my parents… She's alive, and that means Mark is a painting, too!"

She kept quiet, wanting to get home soon.

_I have to talk to Garry about this…_

"Yo Ib!"

Her blood ran cold, and she felt her heart stop beating.

"Hey, I need to talk to you!"

_I need to stay far away from him… Just play it off as if I don't know…_

"I'm sorry for yelling at you yesterday… My mom is just sick, so having visitors wouldn't make her happy…"

_Liar…_

"I gotta go… Later…" Ib muttered.

…

"Garry! Garry!" Ib screeched, slamming the door shut and locking it.

"Ib? What's wrong?!" He said, quickly getting off the couch.

"Mark… Home… Parents.. Burn… Mary…" Ib breathed, tears running down her face.

"Ib? Ib, just tell me…"

"You swear you'll believe me?"

"I promise."

/

"Mary's alive… She was the one who burned my home… Killing my parents with it. Mark's also a painting, and she calls him her 'son.' Mary's also grown-up, and she's trying to keep them a secret."

"How do you know this?"

"A friend of Mark's gave me his address, and so I went to his house… And eavesdropped…"

He shook his head.

"My… That's terrible… I'm sorry you had to hear that, Ib."

She managed a small smile.

"No… It's fine… Now I can keep myself safe, because I know the truth…"

"Ib…" Garry said, putting a hand on her lap. "You've seen what Mary did when we found out her truth… Please, don't let Mark know that you know. There's no telling what he'll do…"

Ib nodded.

"Don't worry. I won't say a single thing…"

Garry smiled, and stood up.

"Also," Ib said suddenly, "something strange happened…"

He looked down at her. "What?"

"Something happened yesterday… I was being bullied again, and I blinked, but… I think I went unconscious. And today… People acted as if they were scared of me… And the bullies that were picking on me… Were beaten to a pulp."

Something flickered across Garry's eyes… Like he knew what was going on…

"Maybe somebody stuck up for you, Ib. Or short-term memory loss. It's nothing, Ib… Don't worry about it."

She smiled, and walked to her room.

The truth was… Garry knew exactly what happened.


	14. Does he know?

"Gosh… These are heavy!"

Ib continued walking alone to her house with all the groceries.

"I don't mind Garry making me do this, but why don't I go often so I won't have so much to carry!"

She peered into the cafe window, and saw a booth in the corner that was empty.

"Hmm…"

She set down her groceries, and peered into her wallet.

"I have enough to get some macaroons real quick, and take some home to Garry."

She picked up the groceries again, and pushed through the door, and sat in the booth.

"Ah, Ib!" The baker exclaimed, walking over to the booth.

_Oh boy… A familiar voice…_

She looked up.

"Derrick?!" She exclaimed, hugging him.

"When did you work here?"

He let go of Ib, and she sat back down.

"For a week or two. I was hoping you'd stop by!"

He smiled.

"Be right back, think about what you want, okay?"

She laughed, as he walked away.

"Ib~"

She felt a slight hit on her head.

"Hmm?"

She looked up.

_Oh, Joy. The resemblance of my nightmares…_

"Hey Mark.." She said gently.

"Mind if I join you?" He asked.

She nodded, having an idea in her mind.

"Hey… Mark?" Ib said, as Mark sat across from her.

"Yes?"

"Err… You remember how I told you about the horror gallery and everything…?"

A flicker of hate dashed across his eyes.

"Mhm…"

"When we went through the gallery.. There was a painting that look exactly like you… Isn't it a coincidence?"

Even more hate appeared on his eyes.

"Yeah, I guess…" He laughed nervously.

"It's strange, though… Oddly, the painting went missing… Did you read about it in the paper?"

Ib was still acting like she didn't know, because she was afraid of what would happen if he knew that she knew.

A glare was there for a second from Mark to Ib, but it disappeared.

"Yes, I did read about it…

I'll buy the macaroons, okay, Ib?"

Her eyebrows raised in suspicion, but she shook her head.

"No, It's okay. I don't mind buying for both of us. I'm getting some for Garry, too…"

He smiled politely at her.

"I'll buy my own, it's okay."

"Alright… and Mark, I have another question…"

He nodded.

"What's your mom's name, if I may ask?"

The hate appeared back on his eyes, and he couldn't shake it off this time.

"I don't know… I just call her 'mom."

_Of course you wouldn't tell me…_

They ordered, and ate.

"Would you like some help carrying stuff home?" Mark asked.

"You have a box of macaroons, and hundreds of groceries on your arms…"

She nodded.

"Only if you want to…"

He took half of the groceries, and walked her home.

The whole time, his hateful and evil expression stayed.

,,,

She shut the door behind her after saying 'Bye' to Mark, and breathed a sigh of relief.

"Thanks, kiddo!" Garry exclaimed, grabbing the groceries.

Ib smiled, and plopped down on her bed, ready to sleep.

**(Ib's Dream)**

_Hmm? What's going on?_

She looked around.

A giant clock stood in front of her, its ticking echoing throughout the whole abyss.

_Time's almost up…_ The one voice said to her.

"Tell me who you are!" Ib exclaimed.

_Not yet… I'll wait…_

**( )**

Ib sat up, tucked under the covers.

"Garry?" She yelled.

"Hmm?"

He stood in the doorway.

"Did you tuck me under the covers?" Ib asked.

"Yeah. You went out in seconds… Ahaha…"

She got out, and looked at the clock.

"Why is it so early?" She groaned.

"Because you get up early in the morning!" He said cheerfully.

His cheerfulness and smile soon vanished.

"I don't know if I should tell you…"

She walked over to him.

"Go ahead…"

"Herm… Mark.. left a note at the door…"

Ib's eyes widened.

"Huh? Did you read it…?"

He nodded, and handed her the note.

"I don't think you should go…"

_**Ib, will you come and eat macaroons with me at 8? **_

"But it's up to you."

Ib nodded, and shut the door to throw on some clothes.

She opened it, and Garry was still standing there.

"I'm gonna go… But.. what if he figures out…?"

"Don't let him know, Ib. If you do… Try to tell him that you wouldn't care if he was or something. Don't tell him that you know, and avoid him. But.. If he does end up finding out… Yell for Derrick or me, okay?"

She stepped back, confused.

"Derrick? Why would I yell for Derrick?"

He smiled.

"Derrick started working at the cafe because I told him about the situation, and to keep an eye out for you, okay?"

"Why would you do that?"

He smiled, and patted her head. Along with pushing her out the door.

"I'll explain it sometime later, okay?"

…

"Hi, Mark…"

Ib said carefully, sitting down in front of him.

"Hello Ib!" He said cheerfully.

"Why did you invite me here?" Ib asked.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Derrick watching them closely.

"I need to talk to you…" He said calmly.

_Does he know?_ Ib wondered.

"Be honest with me, Ib…"

Ib's smile slowly faded away, and her fear rose.

"Did you… by any chance… Lose something?"

He dropped a handkerchief in front of her.

Her eyes widened, and she took it carefully.

It had red lace on the perimeter, and her name stitched into it.

"How'd you find this? It was usually in the pocket of my backpack…"

His smile long gone, an expression of hate was obvious on his face.

"Did you, perhaps… Drop it on your visit to my house?"

Her fear was already showing.

_Oh boy… He knows… He knows, he knows…!_

"I must've. I left when I didn't see anybody…"

"Friends don't lie, Ib." He said quickly.

"Uhm… Mark… It's fine.. Nothing too big to worry about, okay?" Ib replied softly.

She didn't want him to swing a palette knife at her like Mary did.

"You did visit… Just how much did you **hear?**"

His voice became dark at the end, and Ib leaned away from him.

Derrick's eyes kept on Mark, and he started to see Mark pull something out of his pocket, when he quickly went over to the table.

"Uhm, Ib?" He said.

Mark looked over at Derrick, and stopped in what he was doing quickly.

Ib looked up at Derrick, glad to see him.

"Yes?" She asked.

"Your dad called me, he needs to talk to you…"

He grabbed Ib's arm and yanked her from the table, and pulled her into the kitchen.

"Did he really call?" Ib asked, obviously knowing he didn't.

"No… But Mark was taking something shiny out of his pocket, and I felt the need to spring over there quickly…"

Ib smiled.

"So, what do I do?"

"You need to go home. Like… _Right now._ Tell him Garry needed you to come home because you forgot you were having a slumber party or something with one of your friends…"

Ib laughed.

"Okay…"

She walked out, Derrick eyeing Mark closely.

"Hey, Mark…" Ib said, gently placing her hand on the table.

Mark stood up.

"I gotta go… Garry said something about a family emergency or something. Later! Thanks for giving me back my handkerchief… And I'm sorry for coming into your house when you said no…"

Mark forced a smile, and waved bye to Ib.

_I'll make you more sorry than you already are…_ He mumbled, but Ib didn't hear it.


	15. The SPPP

Ib slammed the door shut behind her, gasping for breath.

"Jeez… That had me… really scared for a-EEEK!"

Her head slammed back against the door, as she looked at the two faces staring at her.

"He-hey, Guys…" Ib said nervously.

"Did anything happen?" Garry asked.

"No.. Nothing happened…" Ib replied.

"He didn't follow you home?" Derrick asked.

"No… Mark isn't gonna hurt me… I just…"

She looked down.

"I didn't wanna lie to him, and I didn't wanna particularly tell the truth…"

Garry tended back to the kitchen, and Derrick started to walk away, when Ib grabbed his hand.

"Hmm?"

He turned around, and peered down at the girl.

Ib was tall for 12 years old… She came up to Derrick's chin!

Which was 4 feet tall…

"Uhum… Derrick?"

"Yeah?"

"Who are you really?" Ib asked.

He was confused at the question.

"What do you mean?"

"I know it was wrong… but…"

Ib pulled out Garry's 'special' journal, of which held 3 identities…

"You're on the second page…"

Ib flipped it open.

"Why… Are you 3 in here? It says this was from the SPPP?"

**(I'll be such an idiot if that's a real thing or whatever, sorry!)**

His eyes widened at it.

"What does SPPP mean? There's actually a lot of different people in here, but you 3 are on the front… There's two presidents in here, whose names are oddly familiar, but I don't know where… Please explain it to me…"

Derrick still look wide-eyed at Ib and the journal.

_Great job, Garry… She's not supposed to know…_

"Yo, Garry… Wanna help me here?"

Ib looked at Garry, as he walked out of the kitchen.

He stopped walking the second he saw the journal.

"Ib?! Where did you find this?!" He yelled, snatching the journal away from her.

"I...I was just looking in your room while you were cooking, and I came across it… I… I was curious…"

Garry shut the journal, and their eyes still kept on Ib.

"Is the SPPP for murderers or something? Would that explain the butterfly knife you keep in your pocket?" Ib asked, keeping her distance.

Derrick and Garry shook their hands.

"No, No, No! We're not murderers… That knife is for protection…" Garry stated.

"Yes, but I just have a question…"

"We're not answering any if it's about this book!" Derrick exclaimed.

"What is the SPPP, and why are you, Garry, and his girlfriend in it?!"

Ib happened to see his girlfriend's photo on the third page, along with her name.

Lilah, apparently.

"It's nothing, Ib… Don't worry about it…"

Ib stomped her foot.

"I will worry about it!"

Garry shook his head.

"Ib, stop it. It's nothing to concern yourself with…"

"Goodbye!" Ib randomly said, as she shut the front door behind her.

…

She was so tired, she ran for, what is it now, 45 minutes?

She stopped on the sidewalk.

_Rain is just what I need tonight, isn't it… Why won't they tell me?_

She pulled her knees to her chest, and let the rain just soak her.

It was nighttime, as it was when Ib got home, and she heard footsteps.

They were getting closer, but Ib didn't care.

She didn't look up.

"Yo Ib? What're you doing outside right now?"

She looked up at Mark, who crouched down in front of her.

She threw herself at him, hugging him really tightly and crying into his shirt.

_I don't care if he's a painting or whatever right now… I just needed a friend… He's not even wet? Maybe it's because he has an umbrella._

"Gah! Ib, what's wrong?" He asked.

"Garry… Derrick… Won't tell me the truth…" She cried.

"About what?"

"Something about SPPP, and I don't know what it is…"

Mark sighed, and used his free hand to pry Ib off of him.

"Maybe we can look it up?"

…

They sat underneath the side roof of the restaurant, where the rain didn't reach, and Mark set down his umbrella.

"Alright…"

He took out his phone, and pulled up the web.

"How can you have internet without being at home?" Ib asked, still sniffling.

He shrugged.

"Some restaurants have wi-fi, apparently."

Ib mumbled a 'thanks.'

"Hmm… It says it's 'top-secret'... Won't even let me see the cover without telling me to put in a pass-code…"

Ib sighed, as Mark pulled out some mechanical dealy from his pocket.

"What's that?" Ib asked.

"I use it to hack into websites…"

He clipped it onto his phone, and in a few seconds the sight was displayed.

His eyes widened, as he read what SPPP meant.

"What does it mean?" Ib asked.

"Hold on…"

He looked through the tabs.

One contained members, and the first 2 were the owners, and after that the 3 names read 'Garry, Derrick, and Lilah' and a few others.

The next tab was interesting to Mark.

The tab read; "Children or people in SPPP"

The first one on the list was Ib.


	16. Rules

Mark shut down his phone before Ib could see.

"So… What does it mean?" Ib asked, assuming Mark's phone must've lost battery.

"It didn't say… I'll have to look into it later…" He lied. About him not knowing what it meant, but he was going to look into it later, since Ib was the first child on the list.

"You should get home," Mark said, helping Ib up, "Garry's probably worried."

Ib let him help her up, but refused to go anywhere.

"No thanks, I'm good."

It was like she totally forgot Mark was a painting for the time being.

"What? Ib, you need to go home…"

"No!"

She stamped her foot on the ground.

"I'm not going back unless I get an explanation!"

The rain had stopped a while ago, and Mark stepped into the street light.

"Alright, Ib. Hold on for a second, though…"

Mark snuck around the corner, and called Garry.

"Yo, Garry… I found Ib…"

"**You have? Can you please bring her back here?"**

"She refuses to go. You'll have to come get her…"

"**Ai…. That girl… Sure, where are you?"**

"Hmm…. By the cafe…"

"**Thanks, Mark… Later!"**

He put his phone back up, and turned around.

"Eek!"

Ib was standing right behind him.

"Mark? I told you I didn't wanna go home… Why would you tell?"

His face became stern, and he grabbed Ib's arm.

"Because I'm sure Garry will explain this situation to you, so just go home, It'll be fine…"

Ib stared angrily back at him.

"No! Let go!"

She shook her arm violently, but only met failure.

She sighed, and gave up.

"You're mean, Mark." She said through gritted teeth.

He smirked, and they just stared at the road.

Soon enough, Garry did show up.

With Derrick in the seat next to Garry, and Lilah sitting in the back.

They all got out, wearing small smiles.

Mark let go of Ib's arm, and she continued to stare.

"Thank you for showing up," Ib whispered, her eyes staring at the ground.

"I shall be leaving…"

She started to walk down the alley.

Which turned into a sprint, as the trio and Mark rand after.

"H-hey! I-Ib! C'mon, don't act like that!" Garry yelled.

"Gah!"

Ib slammed into the wall at the end, and stumbled back-

right into Garry.

"You okay?" He breathed, clutching Ib tightly.

"I'm fine…" She grumbled. "Now, please let go…" She said softly.

He turned around, dragging Ib with him.

She looked at Lilah, Derrick, and Mark.

"Why are you guys here?" She said a little harshly.

She didn't intend to be so rude, but tonight wasn't going so well for her, and they were just making it worse.

"It's our job." Lilah muttered.

Derrick shot her a glare.

"Nothing, don't mind what she said…" Derrick said.

Ib looked at the ground, glaring at the glistening pavement.

…

They got home at 1 A.M., after dropping Mark off.

Lilah and Derrick were still here, too.

Garry dragged Ib inside the house, who complained the whole time.

Ib purposefully slammed the door after Lilah and Derrick, earning a stern glare from Garry.

"What's with the attitude?" Garry grumbled.

Without saying another word, Ib started marching to her room.

"No, Ib!" Derrick exclaimed, picking Ib up and setting her on the couch.

"Hey!" Ib yelled angrily.

The three crossed their arms, and sat on the coffee table in front of her.

"Ib… Will you listen?" Garry asked.

"I don't give a crap to what you have to say!" Ib muttered.

Garry hit her hard on her bare leg, leaving a red handprint.

"Ow!"

"Normally, children would get slapped across the _face_ for saying things like that!" Garry yelled at her.

Ib did get hit quite a few times on her arm and her legs or back for her attitude. Garry even admitted he didn't like to hit her, but maybe she'd learn to not have an attitude and no back-talking.

"The trio of criminals…" Ib muttered again.

"We're not criminals, little Ib!" Lilah exclaimed. "We're…"

Derrick nudged her with his shoulder.

She shut up.

"Part of the SPPP, I know…"

Lilah's eyes widened. "How do you know this?"

"Garry's journal…"

Lilah was going to reply, but Ib interrupted.

"Am I important to the SPPP or something? Otherwise, why was Lilah there when you guys came to pick me up? And why is she and Derrick still here?"

It sounded like Ib's questions were directed to Garry, but truly, they were directed to all 3.

"We… Can't tell you…" Derrick mumbled.

"Garry's a criminal and so are you and you can't tell me why?!"

Garry sighed, and told her again that they weren't criminals.

Ib stood up, and stomped her foot.

"Well then whatever you 3 are part of, it must be bad if you can't tell me!"

Ib marched off to her room, and locked her door.

She pushed her desk and jewelry closet **(Yes, she has a lot of jewelry)** in front of her door.

Last, she pushed her bed over there, and sat on the couch in her room.

Soon enough, she was hearing people trying to talk to her and open the door, but the stuff in front of it was too heavy.

She also fell asleep to the sound of banging…

…

"Ib?! Open the door!" Garry yelled.

Ib yawned, and looked at her clock.

_12? I woke up late…._

"No!" Ib yelled back.

Arguments appeared from Lilah, Derrick, and Garry,

"You guys are still here?" Ib yelled back, interrupting them.

"Yes, we stayed overnight, now please, open this door!"

"Why do you care?" Ib asked.

"Because we just… really need to tell you something…"

Ib pushed all of her stuff back to where it was, and the door opened quickly.

Ib sat herself on her bed, and the trio sat on the couch beside it.

"Look, we're not going to explain this fully to you…" Garry started.

"Of course you're not…" Ib grumbled.

"But we just need to tell you what to _avoid_ since you're growing older…"

Ib groaned, and leaned back in her bed.

"Avoid fighting, avoid dangerous people, please walk home with somebody, don't walk alone, don't go with strangers, stay away from suspicious people, and last, _stay away from Mark…_"

Ib tilted her head to the side.

"Garry, I'm not dumb. You told me all of that when I was littler. I know not to go with strangers, not to approach anyone suspicious, no fighting, avoiding dangerous people… But why would and _who_ would I walk home with? And why can't I walk alone all of a sudden? I did it all the time… And why are you just telling me to stay away from Mark?"

Garry sighed, and got ready to answer, but Derrick did that for him.

"Then one of us will walk with you, Ib. And listen to us about Mark, okay? Don't seem suspicious, just say you don't have the time, and don't ask us 'why' when we tell you to stay away. Don't go near him, don't go near his house. Just don't…"

Ib nodded, and they left the room.

She pulled out her notebook, and wrote the date of today on it, and started to write.

_XX/XX/XXXX_

_Something is going on, here._

_I know to be weary of Mark, but 'stay away?'_

_Isn't that odd?_

_I'm supposed to avoid him completely._

_The thing is…_

_I hate him._

_He was my only friend in the orphanage, and most people would think that I should still treat him the same even if he is a painting._

_Well they don't know what I know…_

_I can never forgive someone who killed my parents._

_I mean, his 'mother' did it…._

_But he didn't regret it…_

_I think they mentioned something about 'waiting for me?'_

_It just makes me all the more scared…_

_Wait… Speaking of which…_

_Those dreams stopped awhile back, after they said 'I would figure out who they were soon...'_

_I don't know the next time I'll have the dream…_

_Maybe again tonight?_

_I have no clue…_

Ib shut her notebook, and clipped her pen back onto it.

_I feel tired… Hopefully I'll have the dream, and figure out what's going on..._


	17. Drowned?

**Okay, This one's short. Also, I want to apologize for 2 things;**

**1: I'm sorry for the many chapters in this story, but I don't have a for sure amount of how many I will post.**

**2: I truly apologize for (I'm serious, I am sorry) the many mistakes in my story. **

**Sometimes, I go back and read it, and see so many mistakes.**

**Like in chapter 1, I said 'stretcher.' I'm an idiot. **

**I meant a Gurney! I am so sorry!**

**I also had a lot of grammar mistakes, because I type a little fast, so I don't notice them until later. I am sorry. **

**Thanks for reading it regardless! Ehehe...**

**Oh yes!**

**I almost forgot...**

**I didn't give a description of Mark because I wanted him to look however you'd like him to look. I only gave a few characters a description (Of what they look like) Because I had a certain way I wanted them to look... But Mark is up to you to decide of how he looks!**

**Thanks again and have a Good Day/Night/Afternoon!**

* * *

**(Ib's Dream [It's Short])**

Ib looked around.

_Oh… So it's this dream again? _Ib thought.

She was, again, floating in the dark abyss, nothing in sight.

Except there was sound this time.

It was the ticking of a clock.

_**It's time….**_The voice rang.

"Huh? For what?!" Ib yelled.

_**It's time…**_The voice said again, but louder.

"What's going on?" Ib wondered.

The abyss started to shake violently, and clocks appear all around her… With other… _Items…_

Mark, Mary…. Palette knives.

_**It's time….**_

Ib's head started to pound, and cuts started to appear on her body.

"A… Stop!" She yelled.

_**It's time…. **_The voice said one last time, so loud, it sounded like screaming.

**( )**

Ib sat up, not knowing what was going on.

_It's time for what?_

She was scared… Truly frightened.

She got up, and went outside, telling the trio that she would only be out for a little bit.

,,,,,,,,,,

She hummed while walking, and walked to the park.

It didn't have swings and slides like some parks.

It had a large pond, with a fountain in the middle of it.

It had white benches, too.

It was currently very early in the morning, so nobody was out.

_I think the clock read 6?_

She walked over to the pond, and looked at it.

Fishes could be seen from the edge, swimming around in the crystal water.

It was somewhat murky, but not green. You couldn't see the bottom, though.

Ib looked around, making sure nobody was there.

She looked down at her red dress that flowed to her knees.

_I just want to feel the water._

She wadded into the water, until it reached her knees, wetting just the edge of her dress.

_It's lukewarm… Heh… Reminds me of the drawn pond in the gallery… It took a peddle off of my rose… Luckily it was fine…_

She looked down.

"Eh?"

Fear totally overcame her.

From the center of the pond, black water was spreading out, and inching quickly towards Ib.

"Oh, dear!"

She started to back up, and stepped on something squishy, which squirmed under her foot.

It slipped out from under her, causing her to fall back, soaking her dress.

"Ah! I'm sorry fishy!"

She was backing up, and she saw something all too familiar…

A black hand shot out of the black water, and grabbed her foot.

"Ah~"

Water poured into Ib's mouth, causing her to be quiet, as the hand pulled her deeper into the pond, darkness surrounding Ib.


	18. What's going on?

**Hai! It's been awhile, since I've been at my friend's house for a week, then she turned around and is currently at my house. I just decided to write some more while she's playing ROBLOX... (We're not children, we just got bored! Don't call us 5 year-olds... .-.)**

**Ahhahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha... **

**I may not post again for awhile, so...**

**Enjoy it while it lasts!**

**Later!**

* * *

_~Back to Garry, Lilah, and Derrick~_

_Ib? Ib, answer me!_

"_Garry? Garry, come this way!"_

_Ib, wait for me… Don't die yet!_

"Hey… You guys didn't happen to see Ib, did you?" Garry asked, walking into the kitchen.

Derrick and Lilah turned around from whatever they were doing, and looked at Garry with puzzled expressions.

"No.. Is she not in her room?"

Garry shook his head.

"Aha… She's around here somewhere…" Derrick replied nervously.

They searched the whole house, rooms, kitchens, under any particularly large items, but to no avail.

"Er… She wouldn't go far, right?" Lilah asked, a worried look coming across her face.

Garry shrugged, but really hope that she didn't.

,,,,,,,

"Hey," Garry replied suddenly, shooting out his arm to stop the other two. "Did you notice something a little _odd_ about the lake we just passed?"

Lilah and Derrick nodded, but barely so that they weren't exactly sure.

"I think I saw something floating on it? Something white, maybe?" Garry said, walking carefully back to the lake.

"Ah, this?" Derrick asked, holding up a soaking wet handkerchief.

Before giving it back to Garry, Derrick spotted a small name on the silk handkerchief in red.

"I think… I mean, you don't think…" Derrick muttered, before having the handkerchief taken from him by Garry.

"I..I… Uhm… She could've dropped it?" Garry asked, hoping it didn't mean what he thought it did.

Derrick slightly shook his head.

"It was a little far in, I had to use a long stick to reach it."

"Well, the water could've pushed it that way?"

Again, Derrick slightly shook his head.

"The wind's going the opposite direction, I don't think it'd go farther out…"

Garry gripped the handkerchief harder in his hand.

"Is it worth a check?" He asked, staring at the other two.

They nodded, but looked around, making sure nobody could see them.

,,,,,,

Garry, Derrick, and Lilah rose to the top of the water, all at different places.

Garry cried out in frustration.

"She's not here at all!"

Derrick stared angrily at the somewhat murky water.

He started to walk over to Garry, when his foot hit something hard, but small.

"Ow!"

Garry and Lilah swam over to Derrick, who was underwater, looking for the object.

He suddenly came up, gasping for air.

"There's… There's a lever down there!"

"Well, did you pull it?" Garry asked.

Derrick nodded, and said "Yes, but I stayed under a little longer to see if it would do anything, but it didn't…"

Lilah frowned, and randomly went under.

She came up quickly, eyes full of fear.

"Lilah? What did you see?!" Garry asked.

"I saw the.. the lever! It… was turning black! And look!"

She pointed to the water, where blackness was already rising to their waists, and spreading throughout the water.

"Wha-What's going on?" Garry asked, desperate to get out of the water.

When they started to frantically swim towards surface, black hands grabbed their feet, pulling them under.

,,,,,,,,

Sputters and coughs echoed throughout the dark and narrow hallway, becoming less louder as the minutes dragged on.

Ib stood up, and studied her surroundings.

It was a long, dark, and narrow hallway, which from where she was standing, looked like it never ended.

She walked forward a little, and looked at the only painting visible in the room.

Letters appeared on the small white paper below it, one by one.

**M…**

**I…**

**S…**

**T….**

**A…**

**K…**

**E…**

The letters ended there, and Ib looked back up at the painting.

It was obviously a boy, but it had black scribbles where its head should've been. One giant black scribble.

"Oh…"

She remembered the stairs after they had finished the gallery, and burned 'her' painting.

There was stairs, and Ib went down them, curious to see where they led.

The first thing that wanted to chase them was this painting named 'Mistake,' and it looked exactly like this one.

She also remembered how it suddenly came out of the painting behind her, and pushed her and Garry into this large hole.

Ib shuddered at the thought, and walked away, hoping the thing wouldn't come alive and chase her.

She walked on and on for what seemed like forever, but really, it was only Fifteen minutes.

"Ah! A door!"

She sped up her pace, seeing a bright green door at the end of this hallway.

Right when she only had a couple yards left, she heard a shatter come from way behind her, and she turned her head.

Bare feet slapping against the ground came to her ears, and she realized something was coming.

She ran to the door, and grabbed the knob.

"Huh? No way! Open…!"

She kept trying to twist the knob, and she almost broke it doing so, but it just wouldn't open.

She spun around, one hand still trying to turn the knob.

The thing was clear now, and it was coming _very, very _close to her.

It was Mistake.

"Ah!"

She yelled out, and kept turning the knob.

When the door finally opened, the thing had already reached out his arm, and she slammed the door right on his hand!

She heard the squealing and crying from the thing, and she looked down.

Blood poured out and onto the door frame, turning it an ugly shade of dark red.

She gently, and barely, opened the door, and muttered a small sorry, as the thing yanked it's hand back in.

Ib shut the door again, and locked it.

She breathed, wore out.

She turned around, and looked at the new room she was in.

It looked like a regular room, but without any furnish or anything. The only thing there was paintings.

They lined up the wall, and the ones that couldn't fit sat in a small pile on the floor.

She shivered.

These paintings were Ladies in red, blue, green, yellow…

And all the paintings seen in the Fabricated World.


	19. Caught

"You guys okay?"

Garry looked over at Lilah and Derrick, still coughing up water.

"Yeah.. we're fine…"

Garry stood up and looked around.

They were in a long, narrow, and dark hallway.

A little bit forward and to their right was a shattered painting.

Garry stood up, along with Lilah and Derrick, and walked carefully over to the painting.

"Ah, the title is smeared. Dunno what it is.." Derrick replied.

"Owie!"

They all turned their heads, and cautiously started walking forward.

Soon enough, they could see a green door at the end of the hall.

But a little bit forward, 'Mistake' was sitting down, cradling his hand.

"Are you okay?" Lilah asked sweetly, walking up to it.

"That girl shut the door on my hand!" It wailed.

"What girl?" Lilah asked, taking his broken, bloody hand.

"Brown hair, red eyes. Red dress…." He described.

"Ib… Did she go through that door?" Garry asked, crouching in front of it.

It nodded.

"Wow. She slammed that door really hard on your hand. It looks terrible…"

The thing shook its head.

"It's fine, paintings don't care about that. I'm supposed to be chasing down anybody who comes in this hallway, but I can't do that at the moment, so go ahead."

Lilah smiled, and let go of his hand.

"Thank you!" They said, as they reached the door.

"Ah, this must be where she slammed the door," Derrick said, inspecting the blood on the frame.

"Yes, and it wasn't that long ago, it's not really dry.." Lilah added on.

Garry nodded, and grabbed the knob.

"Hey? It's locked!" He said, twisting it more roughly.

"Ib probably locked it, Garry. After that thing chasing her, I'd bet she really wanted to lock it…"

Garry frowned, and kept twisting the knob.

"Help me kick this open, Derrick…"

Lilah backed up, giving them some space, as they kicked on the door.

,,,,,,,

Ib spun around startled by the noise.

_What was that? Was it Mistake busting down the door?_

She sped up her pace, scared.

"Stairs.. They lead downstairs.." She mumbled.

She walked carefully down, looking behind her every now and then.

When she finally reached the bottom, she realized something.

_Of course.. Would explain the paintings.._

She was in Mark's house…

_Which means Mary must be here, too?_

She peered into every open door, and in one room, it was a painting room. She looked around, before cautiously stepping in.

It looked like it was used recently, and already drawn paintings laid in piles around the room.

The easle had a painting on it, which looked like it wasn't completed.

So far, there was a painting in the corner, of Garry, and in front of it was Mary….

Her dress singed along with some of her hair.

Mary was smiling, holding a cup of tea.

The part that wasn't finished…

Is that Ib was in a painting also.

"Oh, boy.."

She walked around the room, studying every painting.

Each one had Her, Garry, and Mary in it. Mary was either singed, or beautiful.

But in all of them, Garry was dead. A painting, or just dead on the floor, with Mary sitting happily beside Ib, who didn't seem to know the man.

But in one, only one… Did this person portray the scene of them burning her painting.

"I think I should get out of this room… It makes me very uncomfortable."

She walked out, not even giving a glance at the room.

Within minutes, one door was open, by a crack, and it had cobwebs on it.

"Somebody hasn't been in here in a while…"

She opened the door, and kept it open by a crack like it was before.

At the end of the room, there was a canvas.

_Oh no. oh no, oh no!_

Her feet dragged her to it, regarding her attempts to stop herself.

She reached it, soon enough, and looked at the shattered frame.

Below it was a name,

_Markus The Distrustful_

She swallowed, and her palms began to sweat.

_Distrustful, huh? I knew that…_

She turned around, but was stopped halfway by a kick to her side.

Her head hit the wall beside her, causing a burning pain in her head.

"Didn't your mom tell you to not snoop around people's houses?"

Mark snickered.

"Or did she not have enough time..?"

Ib's blood ran cold at the comment.

She stood up, forgetting her pain for a moment, and sent her fist flying towards his chest.

He stumbled back, but his expression didn't change.

Ib's knees soon gave out, and she slipped towards the ground.

"So glad you're here," he said, grabbing her hair, "we haven't had company in quite a while.."

He started pulling her hair, dragging her across the floor.

He stopped at the middle of the floor, and looked down at Ib,

who was clutching her own hair to lessen the pain.

He let go, as soon as someone walked in.

"Maark~!" The lady sang, "how are you treating our new guest?"

Ib turned her head, and looked at the lady.

Her beautiful blonde hair was to her upper back, and her green dress flowed to her knees, with some burn pieces here and there.

Her black stockings looked fine, and her shoes looked new.

That look was just all too familiar….

_Mary..._


	20. Let's play a game

"Oh, joy… Isn't this just _wonderful?_" Garry grumbled.

"Hmm? What is it?" Lilah asked, still looking at all the paintings.

"I'm surprised they don't have "Fabricated World" Painting in here…" Derrick whispered.

Garry and Lilah turned their heads to him.

"How would you know?" Garry asked.

Derrick shrugged.

"Whenever I babysat Ib, she would continue this story about being trapped in an art gallery. She was very detailed in her story, but now… I'm starting to think it was all true."

Garry shrugged it off, and suggested they left the room.

They did, and kept wandering.

"Stairs!" Lilah exclaimed, for some reason, happily.

"They lead up.. And I don't think going up gets us out of where we are now." Derrick grumbled.

Lilah pouted, "well, I wanna explore!"

Garry shook his head.

"No, that doesn't sound good. We don't know where Ib is, and it's best we search for her, kay?"

Lilah sighed, and went along.

,,,,,,,,,

"Hello…" Ib said, her voice shaky.

"Hello, Ib. It's so very nice to see you again!"

Ib watched Mary, as she skipped over to her.

"You've sure… grown…" Ib replied.

Mary nodded happily.

"Yup! I don't know why, but I was an adult when I escaped! I wonder if it was because me and my 'acquaintance' Mark got out! I passed him off as my son, seeing as he would be put in an orphanage if I hadn't."

Ib stared at her, still confused.

"I.. wanna go home." Ib finally said, standing up.

Her vision was blurry, and everything in her felt fuzzy.

"Hmm? What are you talking about, silly?!" Mary said, grabbing her arm,

"this is your home now!"

Mark laughed, and patted Ib's head.

"Isn't this _great_ Ib? What a happy reunion!" He laughed.

Mary giggled, and grabbed his arm, too.

"Why don't we do something?" Mark asked, shaking her arm off.

Mary's smiling face turned into a frown.

"Well… Like what?"

He looked at Ib and snickered, seeing as she was barely able to stand.

"Let's play tag…" He suggested.

Mary smiled once again, and added another suggestion onto his.

"Oh boy! Maybe the paintings will join us?"

**Sounds like fun.**

A giggling voice from nowhere came.

**Indeed! We'll be the taggers…**

A different voice said.

**And Ib shall be the runner!**

Another different giggling voice added on.

Ib gulped.

She didn't want to play this game.

All of a sudden, Mary and Mark disappeared.

**We'll give you a headstart! 10 seconds, a bell sounding each one!**

Ib ran from the room, she would've stayed to burn Mark's painting to end this, but unfortunately, she didn't have a lighter.

She noticed something as soon as she left the room.

The doors that were once open, were all shut.

**BONG!**

She tried the first door she came across.

Locked.

**BONG!**

She tried the next door.

**BONG!**

And the next…

**BONG!**

She finally came across the same stairs she went up, and quickly scampered up them.

**BONG!**

_I only have 5 more seconds to get in a good spot…_

She ran some more, and found some more stairs, leading down.

_These aren't the same ones.._

**BONG!**

She ran down, skipping a few steps.

She found herself downstairs again, but on the other side of the wall.

**BONG!**

_Only a few more seconds!_

She finally found an unlocked door, and saw writing in red paint on the side.

_**The path may be shown to those of pure heart**_

Oddly, Ib remembered the pattern the bird had shown her, and she luckily nailed it on the first try.

**BONG!**

She ran to the end of it, and looked at the painting…

The birds were both dead.

**BONG!**

_What kind of house is it?_

…

_Maybe I can just sleep here.._

_They have no pure heart…_

_The path will not be shown to them.._

_Just one quick little…_

**BONG!**

,,,,,,,,,,

"Hmm? It stopped…" Garry said, looking at Lilah and Derrick.

"Yeah, I guess so.. It signaled 10 seconds, I hope it didn't mean anything…" Lilah replied.

Derrick shrugged.

"Hey, guys.." Garry said, catching their attention and causing them to stop.

"We've been walking down these stairs for quite a while, and the ground seems to get more distant with every step…"

Lilah and Derrick nodded, just noticing it for themselves.

"Yeah. We should just search the upper floor a little more, and try it again later…"

They all went back up, and, surprisingly, met the upper floor a little sooner than expected.

"Uhm.." Derrick suddenly said, startling both of them.

"Maybe it'd be better if we split up?" He asked.

Lilah and Garry looked at him, dumbfounded.

"Lilah, you go with Garry, and I'll be fine on my own…"

Garry slightly shrugged.

"Why would you say this so suddenly?"

Derrick sighed. "We're getting nowhere all bunched up like this. We'll report right back here in 30 minutes, okay?"

Garry sighed, and went along with Lilah, leaving Derrick alone.

Derrick walked on, wondering if he made the right choice.

_This house.. Whatever it is.. Is sure big! I hope they'll be alright..._


	21. Cheater!

_**Cheater!**_

_**She's cheating!**_

_**This is unfair!**_

Ib woke up quickly to the sounds of many frustrated growls.

She looked at the end of the hall.

The things were runnings towards her, but it seems that they got more distant each time they got close.

Ib giggled.

_They don't know the pattern.._

They stopped, and glared at her.

_**You're cheating!**_ They hissed.

Ib shrugged.

"If you're the taggers, come and get me!" She said sticking out her tongue.

This only made them more aggravated.

Soon enough, they left, searching for Mark and Mary.

Ib sighed in relief, glad that they were gone.

She had already regained her strength, and was ready to leave, when the door shut.

She looked up, and backed back into the wall, not wanting to go forward anymore.

"You're cheating?" He snickered. "I thought you would play fairly!"

Ib shook her head.

"I'm not cheating!"

"This isn't 'hide and seek'..." He interrupted.

"Do you know the path, Mark? Because as far as I know, your heart isn't pure!"

He laughed.

"I don't need it."

,,,,,,,,,,,,

"Maybe we'll find an exit? Or atleast I hope they do. I also really hope they find-"

_**Mary! She cheated!**_

Derrick shut up, and leaned against the wall, listening closely.

"I'm sorry, guys. I sent Mark in there to finally catch our runner, okay?! We'll start a new game after! She can be the runner again! We'll lock all the doors, especially that one, so she can't hide! But it's okay! He'll bring her right back here!"

He heard the cheering, but he was already becoming hostile the second they mentioned Mark.

_So… We're in their house…? _

He saw many shut doors, and so little time.

He couldn't go back, either. Not enough time.

With one sigh, he quietly, and quickly, started to open doors.


	22. Mark's Demise

Ib watched in horror as he drew near.

When he came close, he should've been put back lots of paces, but instead..

He just kept walking, and he wasn't taken aback at all.

"You never really were my friend, were you?" Ib silently asked.

"Course not… I'm just following the plan…"

She slipped down to the ground when she backed herself into a corner.

She scrunched up into a ball, shielding her head.

"Aw… Scared?"

He crouched down, awfully close, in front of her, exceeding her scared limit.

_Now's MY chance…_

She shot her head up, hitting him right in the jaw.

"Ow!"

He fell back, grabbing his chin.

"Hehe… So you're not entirely helpless."

She stood up, as did he.

"Leave me alone!" She shouted her voice full of anger (and fear, mostly..)

He grabbed her arm, and started to dig his nails into her arm.

She winced, as it started to break the skin.

Suddenly, the door opened.

"Ib?!"

Ib looked back at Derrick.

"Derrick… The pattern! Help!"

_Er… Pattern? What pattern..?_

_The birdie followed us, and led us to this room which we couldn't quite figure_

_out…_

_It was called 'Endless Corridor,' but when we went inside,_

_in blue paint it red_

'_The path will be shown to those of pure heart.'_

_He showed us this certain pattern, which we had to remember._

_Oddly, I remember it, though._

_You start from the paint and go right, right, down, right, up, up, right, right, down, then just run forward and it won't be endless!_

He quickly did so, and reached Ib and Mark.

He grabbed Ib quickly, and pulled her away from him.

"You alright?"

She nodded, but rubbed her hand on her arm, smearing blood.

"And you… Mark… Stay away from Ib. This is the last time we will tell you."

Mark snickered.

"I'm just following orders."

He disappeared, and Derrick turned to Ib.

"Thanks…. I wish you would've got here a little sooner, tho.." She said, glancing at her arm.

He nodded, and they quickly left, searching for Lilah and Garry.

,,,,,,,,,,,,,

"Maybe this has something to do with my dream?" Ib randomly said, interrupting their conversation.

They all looked down at her.

"Dream?" Garry asked.

"It said that it was time, and I guess my carelessness made that nightmare actually come true… And I dragged you all in it…"

Garry shook his head.

"You could've been in more danger being alone."

Derrick patted her head.

"It's okay, kiddo!"

Ib smiled.

They turned around, and started to walk away.

"Hey!" Ib shrieked, as Mark grabbed her arm.

"Our game isn't over yet, is it?"

"Let go!" She yelled, shaking her arm.

"You still have something to repay me for!"

"Oh? And what's that?!" She screeched back.

"For saving you in that alley a few years ago!"

Ib was quiet, but then started shaking again.

"Wrong! I repay somebody who doesn't try and kill me!"

Garry and Derrick lurched forward, desperate to get Ib away from Mark, but they both disappeared.

"The painting!" Derrick yelled, grabbing their arms, "let's go!"

,,,,,,,,,,,,

"Old times, hey Garry?" Derrick asked, looking up at the canvas with his lighter.

Garry glared back, flicking on his lighter.

"Ready?" He asked.

Derrick nodded.

They rose their lighters, when Lilah yelled for them to stop.

They turned around, to see what she was looking at.

"You can burn my painting, yes, but you'll truly be killing two people!" Mark hissed.

The knife was inches from Ib's neck, making Garry's blood boil.

Derrick flicked back on his lighter, and turned around.

"Derrick," Lilah shouted, "what're you doing?! Ib… She'll-"

"I know what I'm doing!" He snapped.

With one little _Click_ sound echoing the room, the painting set aflame.

Mark set the knife across, but it wasn't Ib's neck.

He didn't have enough time to retry and slit her throat.

What he cut, was rose vines.

They crawled up Ib's legs quickly, and shielded her neck, getting sliced in half instead of killing her.

Ash spread around her feet, and she looked at the knife set on top.

"How did…" Ib asked, worried. "When did Rose vines get there?"

Garry reached a comforting hand towards Ib's shoulder, when a hand pulled her back.

"Say, Ib…" The person said.

Ib looked at the blonde-haired lady…

Actually,

A blonde-haired _little girl..._


	23. Mary's cries

"Mar...y?" Ib said, inspecting her.

"Yup! I'm a kid again, so we can be friends like we use to! And don't worry, I see the trouble of myself, going insane when I thought you were gonna leave me, Ib. Sooo…"

Ib pondered at having her as a friend, but shook her head.

"You burnt my house to the ground! Killing my parents along with it!"

Mary felt as if she was slapped across the face.

Boy, did she feel embarrassed.

"Yes, Yes I did… But…"

Ib tore her arm away from her.

"My mother and father cared for me, and you took them away!"

"I know, but-"

"You also almost killed me in the fire!"

"Sorry, I didn't intend-"

"And I lost the thing I treasured most in that fire!"

"What's that?"

"I lost a friend… Since you started that fire, I was no longer your friend. Forever I will hate you. What you did is unforgivable."

Mary was silent for a moment, before a wide and creepy smile spread over her face.

"Hey, Ib… Would you like to… Know a secret!"

She giggled, and dragged Ib out of the room.

"We should follow, correct?" Garry asked.

"Of course… I don't trust Mary, either…"

They ran after the girls, sprinting faster than they ever have.

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

"M...ary… I… can't run… anymore…" Ib huffed, sliding to the ground.

Mary giggled.

"That's okay! We're in my room, now! I locked the door, so they can't hurt us! Hehe… So… ready to hear my secret?!"

Ib nodded, seeing as Mary would probably tell her anyway.

"Mark told me all about the S.P.P.P.! Do you wanna know?!"

Ib's eyes widened.

She'd been waiting to know about it.

"So, It turns out S.P.P.P. stands for Secret Power Protection Program!"

Ib tilted her head.

"And it turns out that you're one of the kids who are being protected, and you know why?!"

Ib had a pretty good idea, but she would like to be sure.

"Because you have secret powers! Isn't that just great?! That's why rose vines protected you from getting your throat slit, because your powers activated when you were in danger!"

….

….

…..

….

…

_What?_

_Why wouldn't they tell me?_

_It would've been nice to know…_

"Ibbb~" Mary sang, waving her hand in front of her face.

"Hey, are you okay?"

Ib nodded slowly, still processing.

"Ah, that's good."

"Why would you tell me this…?"

Mary smiled, and took both of her hands.

"Because friends share secrets, remember?"

Ib quickly shook away.

"Friends don't scar their friends. You scarred me when you killed both of them in that fire!"

Mary's smile faded.

She let go of Ib's hands.

"If your parents were alive… Things would've never worked out… You see-"

The door burst down, Derrick and Garry out of breath.

Mary ran to the back of the room,

seemingly her canvas was there.

They rushed forward, leaving Ib.

"We're ending it, now!" Garry shouted holding his lighter steadily in his hand.

"Ib, plea-"

They shoved Mary aside, her canvas vulnerable.

The second the lighters flicked, Mary begged for mercy.

"Ib… Please don't let them do this to me!

I-I-I'm sorry for what I did! PLEASE! Save me!

Tell them to stop, please…

_**I just wanna be a normal girl with normal friends like you…**_"


	24. Promises

"_Say, Ib… Do YOU have a crush?"_

_Ib blushed a dark shade of red, and starting twiddling her thumbs._

"_I.. Well.."_

"_C'mon! Tell me! We're friends!" Mary pleaded._

_Ib sighed, seeing as Mary wouldn't stop until she got what she wanted._

"_I… I think Garry's.. k-kinda cute…"_

_Mary giggled._

"_Hehee! _

_I won't tell!"_

_**She kept that promise even until now…**_

"_If only two could leave, then what?"_

_Ib pondered at this question._

"_I'll leave with you and Garry, of course!" Ib cheered happily._

"_No.. Only two…"_

_Ib wasn't so cheerful anymore._

"_It won't come down to that, Mary! So be happy!" Ib exclaimed, taking her hands._

"_I'd really like to know…" Mary whispered._

"_I guess I'll stay here, then!"_

_Mary gasped, and looked straight at Ib._

"_Why would you do that? You've have a long life ahead of you, don't say things like that!_

_And Garry's lived enough of his life, so don't worry!"_

_Ib giggled, assuming she was joking about 'Garry's lived enough of his life' thing._

_**Except, later…**_

_**I found out she wasn't.**_

"_I HEARD MARY'S SECRET "_

_Mary spun her head quickly to the picture of the mouth on the wall, and looked at Ib._

_She hadn't seemed to hear._

_Mary's hand dug into her pocket, grasping the palette knife firmly._

"_Just in case…" She muttered._

_**I truly had heard the painting, but maybe it was **_

_**a secret Mary didn't wanna say,**_

_**otherwise she would've told me because we were friends!**_

"_Why are you running?"_

"_Didn't you promise we'd leave together?!"_

"_We're friends, right?!"_

_**If only Mary hadn't freaked out, things would've gone alright.**_

_**I tried to coax her to come on, but she kept walking away**_

_**as if I were invisible to every painting in the room.**_

_**After a while of her not saying anything to me,**_

_**I decided I would try to find Garry and come back to get her.**_

_**But a little bit after I walked through the door,**_

_**she looked like she was going to kill me.**_

…

…_**.**_

_**..**_

_**.**_

_**Even after her painting was burned, I believed that we were still friends,**_

_**and hoped that she went to a better place.**_

_**My heart snapped, though, the second I read her diary.**_

"_**I like the people coming in to live with me,**_

_**but…**_

_**I wanna go outside, and experience the real world!**_

_**But unless I take the place of someone outside,**_

_**it seems I can't do that…**_

_**Won't somebody come soon…?**_

_**Won't somebody come soon…."**_


	25. It's not over

**I used hearts to separate the two paragraphs instead of commas.**

**Mainly because it gets your attention better!**

**(Or at least I think..)**

**Yah, so.. Laterz!**

* * *

"Won't somebody come soon…" Ib whispered.

"I won't let you…" Ib screamed.

She turned in their direction.

_**You're one of them, Ib! YOU have powers! Teehee!**_

She flicked her wrist, sending vines shooting from the ground,

knocking all three of them away.

Everyone in the room looked at her, all with puzzled expressions.

"Somebody did come soon…

And I came to save you!"

Ib cried, sinking down to hug Mary.

Mary was still confused, wondering why she saved her at the last moment.

"Mary's coming to live with us, whether you like it or not!" Ib hissed.

"I've never had a friend, and since Mary kept my secret for me, I'm returning the favor!"

Mary chuckled.

"Thanks for returning the favor back in the gallery there, Ib…"

Ib's eyes shot daggers through Mary.

"Oops, sorry! Really shouldn't have said that!"

Ib lightened up a bit, and helped Mary up.

"Now…"

She said, turning to them.

"We're going home… I won't answer any questions asked until we get there…"

"What made you change your mind?"

Was the first question asked as Mary walked out of them room.

"Her diary.. Her promises… _Our_ promises…

She was crying for me to save her, for her to not have her only friend burn her to ashes again…

She was stuck in that gallery for years, and she finally escaped…

Only to see her friend ready to end it all…"

Derrick sat down carefully in front of her, as did Lilah.

"I know it's not correct to bring it up, but.. How did you do that back there?"

"Heh… I shared your secret with her." Mary said, jumping on the couch beside Ib.

"About the-"

"SPPP? She did… It would've been great to know, though…"

Garry nervously laughed.

"Because you probably would've used your magic out in public and make people really suspicious…"

Ib frowned.

"Glad you know you trust me…"

"And the bullies?" He asked.

Ib sighed.

"Wasn't really my fault…" She muttered.

"Right…"

The room became really silent after that.

Super awkwardly silent.

"All right, well, Ib! Do you wanna go get some macaroons?" Mary asked, over excited to be with her only friend.

"Sure… We'll be back soon, Garry! Lilah! Derrick!"

Mary skipped out the door, dragging a happy Ib along with her.

"These are great!" Mary said, her mouth full.

Ib giggled.

"To be honest with you…" Mary said before swallowing, "I was actually waiting to try my first macaroon with you! So I've never tried one!"

Ib felt bad.

_She was waiting for me, huh… _

She was going to cry, feeling really bad for Mary.

_Imagine if we would've burned her painting, ending it all…_

_She never would've got a chance to try one…_

"Ibby?! You okay?! Your eyes are watering! No wait.. Are you…

Crying?!"

_Huh?_

Ib felt her cheeks.

She was crying.

She quickly wiped it away with her tears, saying it was nothing.

"I'm sorry! Wasn't it something I did?!"

Ib shook her head.

"Sometimes, I'll just imagine myself in your shoes… And pity comes to mind when I think about it… It just makes me really sad…"

"But I'm really happy!" Mary interrupted, "because I'm now with my best friend who saved my life! So Thank you!"

Ib smiled, but her tears kept flowing.

"Hey, cheer up!" Mary exclaimed, hugging Ib tightly. "We're both here together now! Water under the bridge, Okay, Ib!"

Ib smiled, and her tears stopped.

_She's right, we're together now…_

_The way I've always wanted it to be!_

_With my best friend by my side, I don't feel so powerless anymore…_

"Ah…" Ib slightly shrieked.

Mary looked at her, worried.

"Ib?"

Ib had felt some strange feeling in her…

_The gallery!_

_Something is going on!_

Ib had Mary hurry, which Mary had no problem in gobbling up the rest, and they rushed out the door.

"Hey! I..I'm the one who's supposed to be dragging you around…!" Mary laughed.

"Not right now! We've gotta hurry!"

She ran faster, hurrying to get to her destination.

When they only had a few yards left, Mary studied the letters on the building.

"A-r-t Gall-er-y… Guer-en-teeee-naaa….! WHAT?!"

Mary stopped, and almost sent Ib flying backwards.

"Why are we here?!" She yelled, stomping her foot.

She absolutely HATED this place!

"I… I dunno.. I just.. felt something.." Ib said, catching her breath.

Ib walked up to the door, leaving Mary standing angrily beside the bench.

"Huh.. It's locked.. It's never locked at this hour.."

After standing there a little bit, Ib heard a _Click,_ and the door creaked.

She quickly opened the door, and looked at the bright gallery.

She saw the receptionist, and many other people looking at paintings.

Mary ended up following her, not wanting to stand outside and wait.

Ib snuck past the receptionist, since she hadn't brought more than $15 dollars with her, which Mary used it all on Macaroons.

She walked through, clutching Mary's hand tighter every time they walked past something that chased them in the gallery.

Eventually, they came across a painting they hadn't seen before.

_The truthful, and the liar._

Mary and Ib squeezed through the crowd of people surrounding the new painting.

"Huh?!" Mary and Ib said together.

To the left, above the enlarged word _TRUTHFUL,_ was a guy with black hair covering his right eye.

He wore a small smile, and his eyes were a beautiful shade of black.

To the right of him was a girl above the enlarged word _LIAR._

She had long beautiful black hair, and she wore a twisted grin on her dark face.

Her eyes were replaced by a black shade, going from her hair to the top of her nose.

Truthful held a black stem, its petals long gone.

Liar held a red stem, blooming with black petals… But for some reason, some petals on that rose were red, blue, and yellow.

"Ib.. Ib, we should go get Garry…" Mary said, starting to shiver.

Ib couldn't look away from it.

"Ib! We can't just stand here, this is bad!" Mary said, starting to tug on her sleeve.

People started to stare, but looked away.

"Why… I mean, how…?"

Mary shook her head.

"The longer we stay here, the longer they stay trapped in there!

Do you hear me Ib?!

The longer we stay here, _Derrick _and _Lilah_ become in even more danger!"


	26. Decisions

"I.. er.." Ib stuttered, before finally turning her head to Mary.

"Yeah.. We should-"

Mary tugged on the door again.

"Uhum.. It's locked.."

Mary laughed nervously.

"Hehe.. Uhh.. No problemo.. Receptionist-"

Mary turned around with Ib, but what was there was not a receptionist.

It was a Death of the Individual statue.

"Eyah!" Mary shrieked.

She fell back, dragging Ib to the ground with her.

"Mary, chill out.. Even if we do have to go through this, it'll be okay.."

Mary gulped.

"Please.. Somebody… LET US OUT OF HERE!"

Mary screamed, as she started banging on the entrance doors.

"Mary.. Please chill out.."

Ib said it quietly, only because she knew how bad this must be for her.

Being trapped in this gallery for some many years…

She does not want to get stuck here again…

"You don't UNDERSTAND, Ib!

The game is different this time!

It's different every time.." She said, calming down in the end.

Ib patted her back, and coaxed her to continue.

"Joy… _Roses…_" Mary hissed.

"I'll get them, stay right here, please.." Ib said.

Mary stopped her.

"Uhm.. What if it's a trap?"

Ib giggled.

"Then I'll slip you your rose in any way I can! Teehee!"

Ib walked over to the _black_ vase and grabbed a blooming red and yellow rose.

As she turned around, a cage fell over her.

"Ahahahaha…" Ib laughed nervously.

"Uhm, I guess you were right..?"

Mary ran over to the cage, and grabbed the bars and started pulling.

"No! I'm. Getting. Us. Both. Out. ALIVE!"

She actually managed to dent it, but she couldn't do it, and screamed out in frustration.

"Mary, it'll be okay…

Oh yeah!"

She slipped Mary's yellow rose through the bars, and Mary cautiously took it.

"Isn't it great? This time it's real, Mary.."

Ib heard the sound of rattling, and looked up.

A chain latched onto the cage, and started to pull it up, ever so slowly.

"Ow!" Mary and Ib yelled at the same time.

They instantly let go of these bars.

"Electricity?! It just started doing that!" Mary shouted.

"Mary.. It's okay…"

"Ib, be careful!" Mary shouted.

"I will be! I'm more concerned about you, Mary!"

Mary shook her head.

"I'll be fine! PLEASE, IB! Stay safe, promise?! I'll… I'll find you, and kill the idiot who-"

"I promise… Until then, I'll see you soon! Teehee!"

With that, the cage disappeared, leaving an angry Mary standing by herself.

_I'm all alone.. Again.. No.. Ib promised to stay safe! Let's go find her!_

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

_**Say… Mary… How is your trip back to the gallery?**_

Ib read the painted words on the wall beside a blue doll.

She walked on, and came across another.

_**Ya know, Garry went through this scene, too..**_

She hissed, and walked on.

_**Haha, Garry was more scared then you are! Hissing is rude!**_

She didn't even glance at the doll that time.

_**Ib is playing a little game with us…**_

"What game?!" Mary screeched, at nothing, really.

_**We'd love to tell you, but we'd rather not!**_

…

_**Oh, wait… There's actually a reason we dragged you back here… **_

…

She walked onto the next doll, but there was no writing on the wall beside it.

She wondered if it was on the doll, so she leaned in real close.

_**We knew you'd wanna save Derrick and Lilah!**_

The doll said, scaring the heck out of Mary, and sent her flying into the wall.

"Good gracious!" Mary yelled.

_**Yeah… They're a big part in this whole thing you got yourself mixed up in..**_

Mary blinked a few times.

_Is this doll really speaking…?_

_**...What did I mean by 'we'? Haha, I'm sorry, Mary. It was Derrick and Lilah who dragged you back. They wanted you to save them… But If you don't in time, Ib's in HUGE trouble!**_

"Uhm… Are you nice?"

The doll nodded proudly.

_**Unlike some of my other friends, I'm kind! Because you were kind to us! You gave me confidence when you always called me pretty!**_

Mary felt somewhat calmer being around this doll.

"So.. Can you guide me to Ib?" Mary asked.

The doll sadly shook its head.

_**Sorry, I don't know where she is. Rumour just kind of went around that she was 'playing a game' by some sort of 'Tattletale' painting… So yeah, I told you that, but I have no clue if it's true…**_

"Ugh… Is there anything you can help me with?"

_**I know where that cage is leading, but that's about it…**_

Mary smiled.

"Great, then you're of help! Guide me, dolly!"

Mary put the doll on her shoulder, who gave directions.

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Mary heard psychotic laughter echo from down the hall, and she ran towards it.

The only doors in this hall was the blood-stained one at the end of the hall.

"Ma..Mary? A.. Are you sure you wanna go in there..?"

Mary nodded slowly.

"I.. I'll go…"

She opened the door carefully, and looked around.

"There's nobody here…? Then what was with the laughter?..."

The doll shrugged.

_**I think I see something at the end of that hall! Let's check it out.**_

She walked forward, and met a large frame.

"Weiss Guertena…"

_**Hello…**_

A scary voice echoed.

Mary turned around.

_**So… At this point… I don't have a choice, do I?**_

Mary looked at the person.

It was the painter himself.

"Mary, use this!" The doll yelled, handing her a lighter.

"Where did you-"

"I had it with me! Just in case.."

"Thanks…"

_**I can die here, and the curse of my gallery shall be forever over.**_

_**Or…**_

_**You can save your friend before it's too late.**_

"What..?"

_**If you choose to burn my painting, you shall not make it in time to save her.**_

_**But it will all end.**_

_**Or, I'll let you leave this room and you'll make it to her in time,**_

_**but suffering shall come to those you both cherish…**_

_**Or cherishED.**_

_Oh no… What do I do..?_


	27. 1:End it all

Mary turned around, and quickly burned the painting.

She had to wait for him to be nothing but ash, to make sure he was dead.

Finally, he was just another burnt painting, and Mary ran faster than she ever had.

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

"Ib!" Mary screamed.

She slammed open one last door, and found Ib flailing around in some caged water tank.

It was filled all the way, impossible for her to breathe.

She was banged on the glass.

Mary looked over at her rose.

It was on a table underneath a glass dome.

Mary knocked it off quickly, and looked at the desperate petal that clung to it.

_Oh no.. This is bad.. Vase! One at the end of the hall!_

"Hold on Ib, I-"

Mary stopped.

It was silent, now.

Something Mary hadn't noticed before

(It WAS there, she just didn't didn't have time to really LOOK at it…)

was beside the tank.

Derrick hung upside down by a rope on his leg to her right.

Lilah hung upside down by a rope on her leg to her left.

"Why did…"

Mary ran over to the glass tank, and with sudden excessive strength, removed the heave metal top.

She lifted Ib out of the water.

"Ib…"

Mary looked at her rose.

"Oh no, Oh no… NO!"

The ropes suddenly ripped, sending the two adults falling to the ground.

"IB! WAKE UP! DON'T LEAVE ME ALONE!"

Mary looked at the people who had just crashed to the ground.

To her surprise, they started moving.

"Guys! Guys…! Ib is… Ib is… IB!"

Derrick sat up, grabbing his head.

Everything was fuzzy for them, seeing as they were upside down for who knows how long.

"Ma..Mary? Ib? What're you guys.. Doing here?" Derrick finally asked, and, trying to walk steadily, reached the two.

"I-I-I-I-I…" Mary stuttered, her tears left her hiccuping.

Derrick's eyes widened, and he lifted Ib up.

"Ib?! Ib?! Can you hear me… God.. How did this happen?!" He asked angrily, his glare shooting daggers through Mary.

"I...I didn't do.. ANYTHING… When.. When.. When I came back here.. She was.. She was.."

Lilah wrapped her arms around Mary, sobbing with her.

"No.. She can't be dead… We never…"

Mary noticed something at that moment.

_Ib could've been alive if she had just left his painting be…_

"Doll, what-"

Mary realized something else..

The doll was not there.

Suddenly, the ground started to shake violently.

The patterned carpet turned a solid colour of white, and it started shining very brightly until…

Everything went black.

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

"Ow… Did I hit my head?" Mary wondered aloud.

She rubbed her head.

"Mary~!" Garry sang.

Derrick and Lilah came up, too, smiling brightly.

"Did you fall asleep?! That's rude to fall asleep at an art gallery, you know… If it was boring, you should've not came!

I called Derrick, and he said he saw you run in here like a mad man!

Haha… You ready?"

Mary nodded, and stood up.

On the way out, they passed an unusually large painting.

She stopped, and stared.

The main piece was a large frame, shattered.

A shadow stood in front of it, holding a lit-up lighter.

On the shadow's shoulder, there was a blue ugly rag doll.

Under the frame, faint outlines of the word 'Weiss Guertena' was written.

"Hmm? Ah, this one… It's strange… It looks so… realistic!"

Mary looked back at the painting, taking in what Garry said.

_Why does it give me this strange feeling…_

_Like… Mixed emotions maybe?_

_Depression..?_

_Sadness…?_

_Anger…..?_

Her thoughts were snapped by Garry shaking her.

"Sis, we shouldn't stay here any longer, Okay? This painting is starting to freak me out.." Garry said calmly.

As they were heading out the door, Mary saw the title of the painting.

'_**Wrong Choice'**_

* * *

**Luckily for you, I may go back and do another ending where she chooses to go and save Ib instead of burning the canvas.**

**Dunno,**

**Maybe..**

**Maybe not.**

**Eh.**

**Later,**

**and if this is it,**

**Thanks for reading! **


	28. 2: Save Ib

**After (Username: YellowRose1515, or 1530, I forgot...) bugged me about it (Hehe, Sorry if that offends you, YellowRose, haha...) about the ending where she chose to save Ib, I decided I'd go back and rewrite it! Hehe! There ya go! Happy, ****_Happy_**** days... :D **

* * *

Mary looked carefully from the lighter, to the doll, to 'Guertena,' then back to the painting.

She clutched the lighter harder, turning her knuckles white.

_Ib…_

She shoved the lighter in her pocket in frustration, but was hoping she made the right decision.

_I care about her more than this STUPID gallery!_

Grasping the doll firmly, she ran past the figure, who made no effort to stop her.

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

She could hear banging from a room up ahead, and cautiously looked inside.

There was Ib, drowning in a glass case, and next to the case (On both sides) Lilah and Derrick hung upside-down by their feet.

Mary quickly looked at Ib's rose, with 3 remaining petals.

She quickly told Ib to push up, and Mary, with Ib's help, started to raise the glass.

Mary pushed the heavy lid onto the floor, and Ib quickly popped out, breathing quickly.

She hugged Mary, thanking her multiple times.

"What exactly happened when you got up onto the top floor?" Mary asked.

Ib took a long breath, and replied quickly;

"I don't really know.. I just woke up, and realized I was drowning…"

Ib smiled, and Mary looked at Ib, confused.

"Why are you so happy?" Mary asked.

"Because I'm alive and you're okay!"

Ib used Mary's shoulders to push herself up and out of the case, and Ib grabbed her rose.

"So… How do we get them down…?" Ib asked.

Mary cupped some of the water from the case in her hands.

"When I was a painting," she started, and rose her hands full of water, "We stayed away from this type of water, because we would shrivel, because water and paper aren't so great…"

She splashed the ropes with water, and the ropes lost some of their color, and snapped.

"Mary…" Ib said, staggering.

Mary rushed to Ib's side, hoping the adults would get up on their own, and helped to keep her standing.

"By any chance… Could that water be the same ones that heals our roses?"

Mary helped Ib over there, and before Ib could dip her rose, Mary stopped her.

"Don't waste the petal if it's not, let me."

Mary took out her rose, and let the top of the water barely touched it.

Nothing happened.

She pushed it deeper into the water.

Still, nothing happened.

"Ah! Look, Ib! This water is good!"

Ib smiled, and dipped her rose.

Her rose instantly gained back its 5 petals.

"Oogh.. .What hit me…?" A staggered voice asked.

Ib, no longer leaning on Mary's shoulder, looked over to her right.

Derrick stood up.

"G-Girls?! What are you doing here?!"

Ib and Mary shrugged.

The doll spoke up.

_**Due to your desires to come back to the real world as soon as you woke up, these two girls were sent here! By accident of the both of you, of course!**_

"The..The both of us..?"

Everybody looked over at the now-staggering Lilah.

She looked back at everybody.

"Hmm? Did I do something?" She asked.

They shook their heads.

"Derrick? Is your rose okay?" Ib asked, walking over to him.

He pulled out a rose with one limp petal.

"Ai… Would explain why I'm in so much pain…" He said sheepishly.

Ib quickly snatched the rose, and _drowned_ it in the water.

The black petals grew all at once.

Mary turned to Lilah, along with Ib.

"Lilah..?"

Lilah glanced at the both of them, before realizing what they wanted.

"Oh!" She blurted, then laughed sheepishly before scratching the back of her neck in embarrassment and nervousness.

"I...I don't _have_ one, apparently…"

She looked up at the cautious wide-eyed people.

"Look, we'd better leave before-"

She was cut off by the shaking of the ground, before a light shot up from a sudden crack in the floor.

Everyone grasped onto each other, before everything became blinding.

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

_What was I doing?_ Ib wondered.

She looked to see Mary, who apparently was just sitting up, and Mary looked back at her.

"Hehe… I can't exactly recall what I was doing…" Mary nervously laughed.

Ib noticed a big lump in her pocket, and pointed to it.

"Huh?" Mary, just noticing it too, pulled out what was in it.

A blue rag doll in a pink dress with scraggly black hair was in Mary's hand.

"Aww!" Ib exclaimed, "it's so cute!"

Mary giggled, and nodded.

"Girls!" Garry snapped, and they gazed up at him.

Ib and Mary stood up quickly.

"What were you guys doing? You don't fall asleep in here!" He exclaimed.

Derrick and Lilah came up behind him, and they laughed.

Garry looked around, and shuddered.

"Gee, after all that, I couldn't imagine while you two would be here…"

He looked down, and his eyes caught something sticking out of both of their pockets.

"Roses… Oh no.. Did you guys…?"

Ib and Mary linked arms, as most friends do, and reached into their pockets, pulling out a yellow and red rose.

Ib and Mary shared a look, before turning their gaze back to Garry.

"I guess we did," Ib said, "but look! We made it out alright and okay!"

Garry still looked worried, as Lilah and Derrick came up beside them.

"You guys went all alone?" Garry asked, a little bit of anger mixed with worry in his voice.

Derrick patted Garry's shoulder, before pulling out a black rose.

"No, Lilah went with us."

Garry looked at Lilah, who smiled.

"Yep! Everybody all safe and sound!" She said.

Ib looked back at Mary, wide-eyed.

Mary stared with the same expression back.

"Could that be…" Ib whispered, unable to be heard by the other three.

"Why she didn't have a rose…?" Mary finished.

The lock on their arms tightened, before Garry motioned for them to come on.

Mary turned the doll over in her arms.

"I wish she could still talk…" Mary replied.

Ib nodded, but made Mary stop for just a split second.

"Hm? What is it, Ib?"

Mary followed Ib's gaze, and it trailed to something white poking out of the doll's dress.

Mary tugged on it, but it turned out it was connected to the doll.

She pulled the dress up a little bit, and saw a tag connected to the doll's upper leg.

"I don't remember it having a tag…" Mary said, and turned it over, surprised to see black bold letters on it.

Ib and Mary carefully read it together.

**Enjoy your new **_**Fabricated friend**_

Ib and Mary looked at each other, worry in their eyes.

Mary quickly turned the doll back over, the tag not showing.

Lilah had realized that they lagged behind, and came over there.

"C'mon, guys! Garry said he'd take us out for macaroons! I feel like I haven't eaten in _forever!_" She laughed.

She dragged Ib's arm, causing Mary to be dragged along, too.

Both of them had noticed the oddness in her eyes, her voice, her smile, her laugh…

What was that word from a few moments ago?

I think it was..

Ah, yes…

She felt _Fabricated._

* * *

**That's what they evil look up at the top meant!**

**TWIST, HAHA!**

**Mm... Twists are fun, huh?**

**Well, thanks for reading! **

**Ib: How could you do that? How do you think I'll fell without Lilah..?!**

**Mary: Yeah! I just started to know her, she was nice!**

**Me: Ah, Well, I enjoy twists-**

**Ib: DON'T YOU CARE ABOUT THE PEOPLE IT MAY EFFECT?!**

**Me:...**

**Mary: See?! You don't think!**

**Me: You didn't let me finish, Miss ****_Mary!_**** I was gonna say one thing...**

**Ib & Mary: ****_REALLY?! And what's that?!_**

**Me: Hehee...**

**I don't care...**

**HAHHAHAHAHAHHAHA**

**Mary: *Cracks knuckles***

**Ib: *Grabs a bat***

**Ib & Mary: You're SO in for it!**

**Me: WAAAAUGH!**

**RUN FOR YOUR LIFE!**

**D:**

**Ah, well...**

**I can just edit them out of the story, if that's what they want :P**

**Ib & Mary: *Disappears***

**Me: That's better!**

**Thanks again for reading, and have a great day!**


End file.
